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HERO AND LEANDER 



J B RARY of CGNfiRESS* 

Iwo Oooies rtet«ivtf« 

OCT 2 Wb 

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tfOPY Li. 



?S 3 T3 J 



Copyright. 1908, 

BY 

HENRY HOLT AND COMPANY 



Published October, 1908 



THE QUINN & BODEN CO. PRESS 
RAIIWAY, N. J. 



TO 

E. W. S. 



HERO AND LEANDER 



DRAMATIS PERSONS 

Peithonomos, Leander s father 

Kalliphae, Leanders mother 

Leander 

Gyrinno, Leander s sister 

Naukleros, Leander s friend 

Kritoboulos, an old man, friend of Peithonomos 

Klyton, lover of Chrysa 

Strephon, lover of Gyrinno 

Young men and girls; servants, etc. 

Hierophon, Hero's uncle, priest of the temple of 
Venus Urania in Sestos 
Hero 

'Philanthe, a maid of the temple, attending Hero 
Chrysa, a maid of the temple 
A madman 

Two guards of the temple 
Two maids of the temple, attending Hero 
Captain of the guards 
People of Sestos; guards; maids of the temple 

The action takes place in Sestos and Abydos, sit- 
uated on opposite shores of the Hellespont 



ACT I 



HERO AND LEANDER 



A 



Act I 

BYDOS. The home of Pcithonomos 
and Kalliphae, Launder* *s parents. The 
time is the middle of the afternoon. On 
the right is seen the orchard-front of 
Peithonomos house, built of weather* 
stained wood in simple Greek style, with 
the low Greek gable. A door in the cen- 
tre leuds out on the Doric porch. On the 
left and back arc apple-trees in full blos- 
som. In the distance } glimpses of the blue 
Mgean. 

7 



8 Hero and Leander 

It is the season of Blossom Festivals. 
Kalliphae and some maids are decorating 
the columns and door with boughs of ap- 
ple blossoms. There are also present, 
conversing quietly, watching the work of 
decoration, Peithonomos and Kritoboulos, 
an old man. During the first part of this 
act young girls dressed in white, with 
wreaths of apple blossoms on their heads, 
are now and then seen running through 
the orchard, pursued by young men, 
slightly disguised as Satyrs. A noise of 
merriment, shouts of laughter, singing, 
and all the sounds of irrepressible youth 
pervade the atmosphere, forming a gay 
background of stir, confusion, and noise 
for the events on the stage. 

Kalliphae 

(pausing, surveying the work of decoration) . 

Peithonomos, look at our work, and you, 
Kritoboulos. Is there no droop of sorrow, 



1 1 I. R O AND L B AND I R 9 

No shadow on the Hush of gaiety? 

No ghost of buried sadness, hollow-eyed, 

Staring from flowery lids? — This is Gyrinno's 
First Blossom Festival. I would not have 
Her think that less of love goes into this 
Than went into that other festival, 
Three years since, when Leander was alive, 
And brought his Hero to us. 

Peithonomos. 

The familiar 
Staid virtue of our home has taken on 
The quality of Spring to raise a bower 
For youth and love to meet. Gyrinno will 
Be glad to bring her friends to us. Where is she, 
Kalliphae? 

Kalliphae 
(smiling). 

She's hiding in the orchard, 
Playing at make believe that she would fain 
Elude her Strephon's ardor. 



io Hero and Leander 

Peithonomos 

(laughing). 

Ha, Ha, Ha! 

Kritoboulos 
(as if quoting). 
The heart of a maid and the feet of a 
drunken man have ways past finding out. 

[Forms flitting through the or- 
chard, shrieks of merriment, 
pursuit, and capture. 

Peithonomos. 

I do not hear the song. The boys have failed 
To catch the girls. 

Kalliphae. 

I cannot take the spirit 
Of merriment. Three years ago to-day 
Leander sang the Blossom Song with Hero 
In this same place. (Pause.) And then he 

sailed away, 
He and his friends, to the far Southland, never 
To come again. 



Hero and Li an die i i 

Pbithonomos. 

Let us put by the past 
At least to-day, for our Gyrinno's sake! 
She has the present claim. 

[Again forms are seen flitting 
through tin- trees, girls trying 
to escape, with young men pur- 
suing them. They disappear. 
Shouts of boisterous mirth and 
triumph. 

Kritoboulos. 

They celebrate 
A different festival across the strait 
To-day, in Sestos. Hero takes the vows 
As priestess of Venus Urania. 
The priest, her uncle, has prevailed at last. 

Kalliphae. 

Ye Gods of Love ! Hero, who was to be 
Leaiulcr's wife, the mother of his children, 
Doomed to the barren service of that Goddess 
Of flcshless love. 



12 Hero and Leander 

Peithonomos. 

Venus Urania is 
Goddess of Love spiritual! We may 
Not worship her, yet must respect the faith 
That comforts others — 

Kalliphae. 

Though that faith assails 
The love we celebrate ! 

[More pursuit among the trees, 
ending in a long continued 
shout. 

Kritoboulos. 

Listen! More captives! 
How full Life speaks in them! 

Kalliphae. 

Ah ! But to think 
That Hero's love should be held up to her 
A loathsome thing. 

[Weeps. 
Peithonomos 

(comforting her). 
Three years work many changes 
In youth. Perhaps she has forgotten him. 



Hero and Lean her 13 

Kalliphai . 

Forgotten him ! You do not know how women 
Like Hero love! (with a rapt expression). 

She has withdrawn from all 
The uses of life because Leander held 
All of them for her. She has set his image 
Among the unchanging stars, a deathless pres- 
ence 
Upon her way. Out of the silences 
Of prayer his spirit speaks to her, and hers 
Mounts, an unwavering spire of flame, to be 

With him. 

[Sounds of a song, sung by young 

men and girls, are heard faintly 

in the distance. Kalliphae 

pauses, listening. 

Peithonomos. 
The girls have all been captured. They are 
Singing the Blossom Song together. 

Kalliphae. 

The sounds 

'Arc coming nearer. I can almost hear 



14 Hero and Leander 

The old familiar words of maidenhood, 

And love, and motherhood. 

[Silence; brief pause of listening. 
Then the song is resumed much 
nearer, but not near enough for 
the words to be recognisable. 
Kalliphae speaking with rapt 
expression, as if repeating the 
words sung. 

Apple Blossoms on the bough 

Light and Life possess you now — 

[The song ceases. 

Kalliphae 

(excitedly) . 

They are coming; listen! 

How near it sounds. (Listening; disappointed.) 

Why do they stop? What does 

This sudden silence mean? They must be near 

The orchard. I will steal upon them there. 

[Goes back with eager gestures, 
looking back and left, leaving 



Hero and Leander 15 

Pi ii iionomos and Kritobou- 
los in the centre. 

Peithonomos 

(looking after her with affectionate humour). 
Ah! who will sound a woman's heart! Her 

heart, 
A while ago, was stricken at the thought 
Of merrymaking; now she acts the maiden 
At her first Blossom Festival! 

Kritoboulos 
(as if quoting). 

A youth loves a maid, 

A man, the mother of his children; 

But a woman loves Love. 

r During this speech some girls and 
boys, not noticed by the speak- 
ers, June crept up from the left. 
Suddenly a girl puts her hand 
over Pi iriiONOMOs' eyes from 
behind, another does likewise to 
Kritoboulos, calling. 



16 Hero and Leander 

The Two Girls. 

Guess ! Guess ! 
[At the same time Kalliphae is 
led in from back, captured by 
Gyrinno and Strephon in the 
same manner. The young men 
and girls come in from all sides, 
laughing and shouting. 

Boys and Girls. 
We did surprise you. We did capture you ! 

Kalliphae 

{in an insinuating manner). 
What shall the ransom be, Gyrinno? 

[Gyrinno lets go of her; they kiss; 
Peithonomos and Kritobou- 
los are also released. Kalli- 
phae and the young people oc- 
cupy the centre, left and back; 
Peithonomos and Kritobou- 
LOS somewhat to the right. 



Hero and Leander 17 

Pbithonomos. 

Let 
Us see your prizes ere wt have the least 

With songs and dancing. 

[Young people range themselves In 
a semicircle on the left, facing 
Kalliphae. Peithonomos 
and Kritoboulos a little less 
central at the right of Kalli- 
PHAE. When they have taken 
their plates, it is noticeable that, 
while every young man has his 
girl, Klyton is without a com- 
panion, standing at the left end 
of the semicircle, somewhat sep- 
arated; moody, self-absorbed. 

Kalliphae. 

Klyton, you alone 
Have no companion? 

[Klyton looks embarrassed. 

Laughter among the young 

people. 



18 Hero and Leander 

Klyton 

(slightly sentimentally). 

Do not think of me 
Where every one is happy! 

Girl 

(good-naturedly) . 
Klyton cannot be happy with ordinary girls. 

Young Man 

(aping Klyton's sentimental bearing). 
He is for the higher life. 

{Good-natured laughter. 

Strep hon 

(Likewise, he and the speaker following him lay 
ironic stress on the word "moon"). 

He has married a mermaid. She lives east 
of the sun and west of the moon; and their 
children are Will-o'-the-wisp, Gold-of-the-Rain- 
bow, and Fire-of-the-moon ! 



Hero and Leander 19 

First Young Man. 
And his father-in-law is an old frog that 
turns up his eyes at the moon — 

Strephon 

{with a gesture of mock spirituality). 
And says: " Purify me, Brekekekex, purify me." 
[Accenting and intoning " Purify 
me " in the same manner as 

" Brekekekex/ 1 Laughter 

among the young people. 

First Young Man 

(chaffing him). 

Klyton, why don't you ask the priest to give 

your Chrysa a leave of absence for the Blossom 

Festival? 

[Laughter, 

Klyton 

(sulkily). 
Maybe I shan't need his consent ! 

Young Man. 

Going to carry her off? Good for you I 
We'll help you! That priest! 



20 Hero and Leander 

Peithonomos 

(seriously, with friendly disapproval). 

A bitter tune, 
And one ill chiming with the Blossom Song! 

Kalliphae 

(to the young people, as if to change the 
subject). 

Sing me the last verse of the Blossom Song. 

Young People. 
Yes, we will. 

[They sing. After the first two 
lines of the song some one 
comes in a great hurry. He 
takes Peithonomos aside, 
speaking in his ear. Peitho- 
nomos starts; his gestures are 
those of emphatic doubt. The 
messenger replies with excited 
gestures, which express some 
doubt; Peithonomos and mes- 
senger exeunt left back in great 



Hero and Leander i\ 

haste* KALLIPHAE notices his 
departure t but U absorbed in 
the song. 
Apple Blossoms on the ground, 
That fruition may abound — 
Gathers now the wedded earth 
In a fierce creative strife, 
In relentless urge of birth, 
All the energies of life. 
Maiden, art intent to hear, 
As the world around thee swells 
With the pledges of the year, 
Biddings of thy wedding bells? — 
Apple Blossoms on the ground, 
Life's fulfilment shall abound. 

Kalliphae 

(absorbed, repeating to herself). 

Life's fulfilment shall abound. 
f Two persons come running from 
the back, whispering to the 
young people. There is a stir 



22 Hero and Leander 

of excitement and whispered 
communication among them. 
Suddenly they all, as with one 
impulse, rush off left hack, 
following Peithonomos. 
Kalliphae and Kritoboulos 
are left alone. 

Kalliphae 
(in alarm, to KritoboulosJ. 
What does this mean? 

[There is heard a confused distant 
tumult of voices, rapidly be- 
coming more distinct. Sounds 
like: "Home," "Back"". . . 
ander . . . ander," detach 
themselves. Kalliphae, 
speechless with conflicting emo- 
tions, gradually turns toward 
the background. She begins to 
sway. She is on the point of 
falling forward when there 



Hero and Leandkk 23 

comes rushing in LEANDER, 
catching her in his arms. He 
is trim, tense, and lithe, like a 
runner, deeply tanned, dressed 
in a short sleeveless tunic — the 
Doric chiton, — sandals; no 
sword, nor helmet. 

Leander 
(embracing her). 

Mother, mother! 
Kalliphae. 
Leander! My son! My son! My Leander! 

Leander. 
They tried to stay me, sending messengers 
To sicken you with dilute draughts of joy! 

[Embraces her again. 

Kalliphae. 
My son ! My lost son ! 

Leander. 

Lost? Why do you say: 
Lost? 



24 Hero and Leander 

Kalliphae. 
We thought you dead ! 

Leander. 

Dead? Men that have Love 
And Hope as watchers o'er them do not die 
Easily. 

Kalliphae. 

Those that go abroad are ever 
Less anxious than they that remain. 

Leander and Kalliphae 

(embracing; simultaneously, with renewed 

tenderness). 

Mother ! 

My son! 
[Many persons come running from 
the direction of the sea, the 
girls and young men surround- 
ing Leander' s companions, 
among whom Naukleros, 
who is about five years older 



Hero and LlANDBR 25 

than I.i :.\\di R, is the most con- 
spicuous. They shout: " Lean- 
dcr has come home again. 
They are safe; they are heroes! 
Hall! Hail!" 

Peithonomos 

(bringing up the rear; panting; shouting). 
Kalliphae, our son, our son ! 

[Father and son embrace. 

Naukleros 

(going to the mother). 

All has gone well and prosperously. Good 

fortune 
Was with us at the last; though I should not 
Be here to tell you this, but for your son 
Who saved my life. 

Leander 
(simply, to KalliphafJ. 

A common chance of battle — 

Kalliphae 

(to Naukleros,). 

That proved I.eander's boon no less than yours! 



26 Hero and Leander 

Young People. 

Hail! Hail! Leander! Tell us the story of 
your adventures. Story! Story! 

Peithonomos 

(almost beside himself with joy). 

[During his speech, Leander no- 
tices old Kritoboulos. He 
goes up to him; they greet each 
other affectionately. 

Ah ! We'll have such a festival as never 

Was seen before. You are Leander's guests, 

All, all of you. (Calling to attendants:) 

Set tables amid the trees. 

Go, bid the steward bring the choicest wines; 

Plunder our stores of all the best they hold. 

Don't lag. This Blossom Festival shall go 

Down into legend! 

[Joyous commotion among the as- 
sembled people. Servants bring 
tables, bustling about. 



Hero and Leander 27 

Leandbr 

(as if looking for some one whom he mioses). 

Blossom Festival ! 

Three years ago to-day . . . (abruptly) 

Where's Hero? 

[Embarrassed silence. Leander, 

With sharp anxiety. 

Tell me, 
Where's Hero? 

[Embarrassed silence. 

Kallipiiae 

(with obvious effort). 

Leander . . . 

Leander 
(in terror). 

She is not . . . ? 



Kallipiiae. 



Not dead. 



No, she is 



Leander. 
Where is she? I must go to her! 



28 Hero and Leander 

Kalliphae. 
You cannot see her. 

Leander. 
Not I ? She is not married ? 

Kalliphae. 

If 'twere but that! 

[Leander in speechless consternation. 

Peithonomos. 

My son, you know the priest 
In Sestos is her uncle. When our love 
For you buried its stricken hopes, — not sooner, 
For he is a just man, the priest ! — 

Leander. 

But Hero ! . . . 

Tell me of her ! 

Peithonomos. 

He won her to his faith. 

Leander. 
Won her? . . . 



Hero and Leander 29 

Peithonomos. 

She is to hold the office, held 
By generations of her ancestors, 
Of priestess in the temple. 

Leander. 

When? But when? 
Kalliphae. 

This afternoon she will be consecrated 

In Sestos. 

Leander 

(in consternation). 
Hero! (Pause.) 

Are Love's records graven 
In the heart, less stable than a casual track 
Upon a sandy shore? Was the brave show 
Of our united youth no more enduring 
Than the frail concord of the waving grain 
Before the sudden harvest steel? Our love, 
The crowning flower, the sum of all the treas- 
ures 
Of our expanding being, no more secure 



30 Hero and Leander 

Than any careless posy snatched to a brow 
Hot with audacious frolic, to be tossed 
Aside in altered mood ? 

Kalliphae. 

My son, there was 
No change in Hero's heart. But new demands 
Beset her as a pauseless, rising current 
A swimmer. The storm-tides of far-famed 

deeds 
Wear the dread blazon of implacable 
Change no more surely than the unheralded 
Thin trickle of monotonous routine 
And silent longing. 

Leander 
(pause) . 

And I, all these years, 
Was wrapt in the base din of strife and gain ! . . . 
What heart so dull, it should not heed the 

prayers 
She sent across the tempests and the crash 
Of battle ! Gods ! What heart in all the world 



Hero and Leandu 31 

But mine! Too late I see her, Standing there 
Upon the shore, conning with weary eyes 
i hat endless moving page lined without break 
With ridge on desolate ridge that held no 

message 
For her. 

Kallipiiak. 

You cannot know, as I who daily 
Saw her returning from her silent watch, 
What agonies of doubt, what hopes renewed, 
And bravely fostered — 

Leander. 

Faith gleaning a desert 
To feed Hope wasting at her famished breast ! — 

Kallipiiak. 
What sharp assaults of terror, what quick starts 
And ravishments of longing; what resigned, 
Patient resolves, what faintings of the spirit, — 

Leander. 
What ceaseless hosts of dread and madness must 
I lave ground their multifarious tracks into 



32 Hero and Leander 

Her strong heart, ere the last stir of desire 
Was stifled — Ah ! I see it all, all, all, 
Beloved ! Was your love so true you had 
To send your living spirit to that pale world 
Where only phantoms walk their aimless ways 
Amid the empty vastnesses, because 
You sought my shadow there ? 

Kalliphae. 

'Twas then the priest 
Stole through the unguarded gateway of her 

heart, 
Bringing the changeling of his faith to oust 
Your presence. 

Leander. 

Has that spider, lurking 
Amid the empty shells of life he scatters 
About his lair, spread his fine web for her, 
To fatten on her sweet spirit? ... I must go 
To her . . . Hero, delay, delay I . . . 

His craft 
Cannot withstand our love ! 



Hero and Leander 33 

Pi 11 HONOMOS. 

'Tis useless. Make 
four peace with the unalterable. 

Kalliphae 

(going up to him, kissing him). 

Go, 

My son ! and may the Gods be with you ! 

Leander. 

Will 

You come with me, Naukleros? We will take 

The ship's long boat. 

(Calling to the young men:) 

I need six oarsmen. Who 
Will volunteer? 

[All the young men press about 

him, shouting: "I, I, I. Let 

us all go.' 



>> 



Klyton 

(embarrassed, eager, standing alone, calling). 
Leander, let me go with you I 



34 Hero and Leander 

Strep hon 

(calling) . 

You, too, 
Dreamer of dreams? 

Klyton 
(approaching Leander with flushed determina- 
tion; too emphatic). 

I also have some dealings 
With the priest. 

Leander. 
Come then ! 

Peithonomos. 

Stay! I see Disorder 
Stalking among you young men, whispering 
Her fearful counsel! Keep the peace! The 

priest 
Is a great man. All plots of violence 
Against him I shall do my uttermost 
To frustrate. Violence turns on its master 
A front more deadly than upon the foe 
It served him to destroy ! 



H b r o a n i) Lbander 35 

Ll \M>I K. 

Father, 1 [cro is mine. 

I go to claim her from the- priest. 

[Exit Leander, followed by 
yOUHg men. The girls call to 
the young men. 

Some Girls 

(calling). 

Make haste, make haste! We will wait for 

you. And 
Bring Hero back with you ! 

All the Girls. 
Bring Hero back with you ! 

One Young Man 
(to the girls). 

We will be back by sunset. Who knows? 
Wc may have a Blossom Festival and a wedding 
all in one. 

I [ail, Hero and Leander! 



36 Hero and Leander 

The Remaining Young Men and Girls. 

Hero and Leander! 

[Young men exeunt. 

Peithonomos 

(calling back Naukleros,). 

Naukleros ! . . . 
You are older than the others. See to it, 
I charge you, that none break the peace. Crime 

breeds 
Worse crime, his progeny being stripped of all 
Their parent's counterfeit of graces. 



Naukleros. 

I 

Shall do what man can do. Besides, no arms 

Enter the temple grounds. 

[Exit after the others, Kritobou- 
LOS accompanying him, gestic- 
ulating to him. 



Hero and Leander jy 

Peithonomos 

(troubled). 

I fear disaster. 

Kalliphae. 
My son ! The Gods be with you ! 



Curtain 



ACT II 



T 



Act II 

EMPLE grounds in Sestos. Late after- 
noon of the same day. At the left, sup- 
posedly on the highest part of the grounds 
which descend in a long slope toward the 
ALgean Sea, the profile of the front of a 
Greek temple in a simple and severe style 
projects far enough to show the front porch 
of the peristyle and a little of the solid 
wall of the "cell." The columns of the 
peristyle are Doric. There are a few steps 
leading up the front, giving access to the 
open door in the middle of the front wall 
of the interior. This is the shrine of Venus 
Urania, the tutelar goddess of Sestos, 
whose image, unseen, is supposed to be in 
the enclosed interior. 

The main scene represents an open place, 
41 



42 Hero and Leander 

the sides of which give the impression of 
being straight and formal. At the right 
and back of this place are trees and shrubs 
of a dark colour, pines, cypresses, etc., ar- 
ranged in a thin, formal order, and sug- 
gesting an unseen formal avenue leading at 
right angles from the back of the open 
place to a heavy dark-grey stone building 
with a tower in the right corner of the 
background. This building, clearly visible 
through the spare trees of the foreground, 
stands, about a quarter of a mile distant, 
upon a rocky shore with the bright blue 
ALgean Sea stretching beyond it. About 
the tower there cluster, in sharp contrast 
to the spare forms and sombre hues of the 
trees in the foreground, masses of apple- 
trees in full blossom. At the left of the 
tower there reaches out into the sea a rocky, 
forbidding shore line. This line is met, 
toward the left third of the background, 
by a high stone wall which shuts out the 



Hero and L b and b r 43 

hi rizon and is lost among the frees behind 
tin- temple, 

[As the CUTtain rises, there arc seen 
Sestan men and women, ar- 
ranged in orderly ranks extend- 
ing from the upper end of the 
temple across the open space. 
A few temple guards, in short 
brown sleeveless tunics, with 
short swords and helmets, have 
supervision of the people. 
Maids of the temple, in plain 
W h i t c pe plums, with pine 
wreaths upon their heads, are 
drawn up, facing the temple, in 
double file equal in length to the 
front of the temple, somewhat 
to the right of an imaginary 
line running up the middle of 
the open space. All eyes are 
expectantly directed toward the 

main door of the temple. The 



44 Hero and Leander 

conversation of the bystanders 
is carried on in low voices. 

First Sestan Woman. 
They have been praying a long time. 

Second Woman. 
They must soon come out. 

First Woman. 
How beautiful she looked! 

Second Woman 
(with a sigh). 
It must be wonderful to overcome all desires 
and be like an immortal spirit. 

First Woman. 

Did you notice the priest's face as they went 

in together ? 

Second Woman. 

I have never seen him so radiant. He seemed 

to walk on clouds. 

A Man. 

Hush ! They are coming ! 



Hero and Leander 45 

Third Woman. 

Look at her. How pale she is! 

Fourth Woman. 
She doesn't seem to be of the earth. She 
doesn't seem to touch the ground. 

Several Voices. 
Hush! Sh! . . . 

[ There issues from the door of the 
temple, which remains open, 
Hero, followed, at a distance 
of three steps, by the Priest. 
Hero is dressed in a white pep- 
lum, taken up about the hips. 
The peplum has a border of the 
rectangular Greek wave line in 
gold. She wears a myrtle 
wreath. The Priest wears a 
long purple tunic, with a similar 
border. Hero is very pale; 
her expression and bearing are 
ecstatic; her eyes seem filled 



dfi Hero and Leander 

with a beatific vision, looking 
into the far distance. The 
Priest's bearing is that of sol- 
emn exultation. Hero pauses 
a moment on the top step of the 
porch, then descends in meas- 
ured steps, remaining some 
steps in advance of the Priest. 
No word is spoken. When 
both have reached the ground, 
they turn so that they face the 
temple. 

Priest 
(raising his hands; very solemnly). 
Venus Urania, that hast removed 
Thy love from all encroachment of decay 
And sensual disfigurement of earth, 
To set it, high above the reach of passion 
And weak affection, on the eternal ways 
Of universal law, made manifest 
Through the undeviating stars; grant this one, 
The Chosen of thy Spirit, constancy 



II B R O A N D L E A NDER 47 

Ami strength ami self-denying love to walk 
Within thy sacred statutes. 

(Turning and approaching HeroJ 

I [ero, have you 
Searched all your heart, and found no troubled 

voice 
Muttering against the purport of this service? 

IIkro. 
I have, and all my being craves to bear 
Me witness in this sacred hour. 

Priest. 

Are you 

Willing to put away selfish desire 

And personal affection, that your soul 
May hold no other but Her will? 

Hero. 

I am. 
[Advancing tozcard the temple; 
PRIEST remaining behind, hut 
also turning toward the temple. 
Hkro raising her hands in 
prayer. 



48 Hero and Leander 

Goddess, whose spirit, having burst the bounds 

Of sensuality, is fused throughout 

The infinite starry spaces, grant thy servant 

Virtue, that she become thy instrument 

To exalt and purify the hearts of this, 

Thy people. 

Priest 

(Approaching Hero, who turns around; rais- 
ing his hands over her; in an official tone 
of voice). 

Having renounced by solemn vow all bonds 

Of kith and kin and service of the flesh, 

Thou now art — 

[A commotion among the Sestans. 
Suddenly there dashes in from 
the right Leander, followed by 
some Abydan youths among 
whom Naukleros and Kly- 
TON are the most prominent. 
The Abydans are without arms. 
They post themselves on the 
right, facing the temple. 



Hero and L B A nder 49 

Leandes 

(shouting). 

Stay ! I have a right to speak. 
Stay, priest ! 

\A% his first word, Hero looks up 

tit him, with a Stvift movement, 
us if electrified. She gazes at 
him fixedly, her expression 
gradually freezing to blankness. 
She raises her arms a little, 
swaying slightly forward. Then 
her arms drop nervously down 
her sides. She stands motion- 
less, her eyes fixed rigidly on 
Leander. She gives the im- 
pression of having been stunned 
by a sudden blow. 

Priest 

(turning; looking sinister, surveying LeANDER, 
— pause; then:). 

A right? Who is this dares disturb 

The sacred ceremony? 



50 Hero and Leander 

Leander 

(ignoring the Priest, rushing up to Hero; 

standing in front of her). 

Hero, speak for me, tell him of my right! 
Recall the vows that bind you to me ! . . . 

Speak 
Of the dear uses of our comradeship 
In those rich days and years when each per- 
ception, 
Each look and motion was a new avowal; 
The influences of the earth and skies, of winds 
And waves, the treasures rolled upon the shores 
Of being in the expanding flux and reflux 
Of pauseless seasons, were each one a pledge, 
Adding new bonds to the union of our lives. . . . 

[Pause. 
Priest. 

The Chosen of the Goddess knows no pledge 
Save that within the keeping of the Gods. . . . 

Leander. 
Tell him, my Hero, how our love unfolded, 
Crowding the seasons with united growth 



Hero and LEANDER 51 

Merc closely than the progress of the year 
Joins blade to earlier blade, and flower to flower, 
Until one common impulse swayed our minds, 
And each new thought and knowledge, act and 

plan, 
Was bound in links of living harmony 
To the deep concord of our being. Speak, 
Hero, for me. 'Twill be myself who speak 
Through you. . . . 

[Pause. Hero stands rigid, as if. 
not comprehending what is pass- 
ing before her. 

Priest 

(trying to interpose). 
The priestess . . . 

Leander 

(raising his hand, as if to brush the Priest 

aside, continuing). 

Tell him the Gods smile 
On righteous love. He cannot put asunder 



52 Hero and Leander 

What the Gods have joined. You are mine as 

I am yours. 
The spirits of our love walk the broad high- 
ways 
Of day, and throng the starry dome of night, 
A radiant host. The flower of dawn pours it 
From its dilating cup ; the sun proclaims, 
The breezes carry it abroad; the warmth 
And fruitfulness of earth profess it; the waves 
Shout it aloft to the resounding skies ; 
And high upon the sunset-battlements 
It sits enshrined in golden splendour. 

[Pause; then continuing before the 
Priest can interrupt. 

Tell him, 
Your heart unsays all that your erring lips 
Were taught to speak by rote; that all the 

world 
Holds naught beside one presence; that even 

seeking 
In prayer the silences where dwells his Goddess, 
You find naught but the voices of our love 



Hero and Leander 53 

Filling what were a waste of dumb despair 

It the) were stilled. . . . Speak, Hero. . . . 

[Pause, Hero's lips seem to 

move, but no words conn-. 

She continues looking at Lean- 

DER, OS if under a spell. 

Priest. 

The Guardian of the Shrine 

Chooses the sharper emphasis of silence. 

Take that for answer. 

Leander 

(ignoring the PriestJ. 

What is it makes you dumb? ... Is it the 

hand 
Of some compulsion forces back the throng 
Of ready words? ... it must be this press of 

strangers 
Greedily hanging on your lips; you are 
Afraid lest the sweet vestment of our love 
Be sullied at the hem by clumsy feet? . . . 
Is it the spirit of this unnatural place 



^4 Hero and Leander 

Laying a palsy on your speech? ... Is it 
This priest, dangling his power as jailers do 
Their rattling keys before the furtive eyes 
Of prisoners? ... Or is it? .. . No, No, 

No! 
Speak, Hero! . . . 

[Approaching more closely, lower- 
ing his voice, which is now very 
tender. 

Hero, speak to me alone, 
In whispers, bidding me interpret. . . . 

Hero. 

(After several vain attempts, finally in a hard, 
unnatural voice, as if her throat were 
paralysed, almost shrieks out:). 

I have 

Forsworn the world and all its ways. . . . 

Leander 
(as if he had received a blow). 

The world ! . . . 



Hero and Leander 5$ 

1 I was I you used to call your world . . . 
And now, one facile VOW, one altered word, 
I las spurned me into that poor exiled world, 
A thing of lesser worth than this dull pebble 
Beneath my foot. Oh, world! Oh, hitter change 
I H words! 

Priest 
(stepping in front of HERO). 
Enough ! Go on your way, boy, nurse 
In the retreats of boyish fairyland 
Your pretty fancies, but forbear to trouble 
This sacred hour of high realities 
With what it pleases you to call your right. 

[Motioning to guard. 
Go, call the temple guards in force. 

[Guard exit. 

Leander. 

A right, priest, 
That whelms yours as the mounting tide of 

spring 
Engulfs the rigid ghosts of last year's weeds. 



$6 Hero and Leander 

You played upon a woman's grief to force 
A counterfeit of faith on her. She's free 
To choose between your living death and Life 
And Life's fullest intent. I must see her 
Alone. 

Priest 

(haughtily) . 

The Chosen of the Goddess has 
Pronounced the irrevocable vow. 

Leander. 

Hero! 

Hero. 
[Gives signs of great agony. She 
begins to sway to and fro, her 
arms and face twitch. She tries 
to raise her hands with an im- 
ploring gesture toward Lean- 
der, but seems to lose control 
of her movements. She utters 

a long, despairing moan. 
Ah! . . . 



Hero and Leander ry 

Priest 

(With swift decision to the guards, who have 
in the meantime arrived in numbers). 

Guards, clear this space of all except 
The people of the temple. 

[As the guards advance toward the 
Abydans Hero titters a scream; 
she staggers; some maids of the 
temple support her. As Lean- 
DER hears her scream, he groans 
in desperation, plunging into 
the guards. 



Leander. 

For a sword now ! 
[The guards in overpowering num- 
bers push back the A 'by Jans, 
who are all unarmed. Lean- 
DER struggles desperately, tak- 
ing the offensive from the start. 



58 Hero and Leander 

At one time it looks as if he 
might break through. 

Leander 

(shouting daring his struggle). 

You must release her, priest, she has not 

chosen ! . . . 
She took the vow in error, thinking me 
Dead. ... I must speak to her alone and she 
Must make free choice. . . . The Gods see to 

the heart 
Of action. . . . 

[He has almost broken through the 
guards. 

Captain of the Guards 
(excitedly). 
Use your swords if necessary. 

Naukleros 
(Throwing his arms around Leander, pinning 

his arms to his sides). 
Leander, nothing is to gain, and all 



Hero and LEANDER 59 

To lose Think of your parent 

[The guards, by sheet weight of 
numbers, push all the Abydans 

off right, following them. A 
number of guards rein din. 

Priest 

(with authority) . 

We will complete 
The consecration. 

[The maids form in line, as at the 
beginning of the act. 

Priest 
(In a formal tone of voice, raising his hands 
over Hero, who, supported by two maids, 
seems unconscious of what is happening). 

I consecrate thee now Priestess of Venus 
Urania, Universal Virgin Goddess 
Of Love Supernal. All the ties of Self 
Herewith I strike from thee, and in their stead 



60 Hero and Leander 

I lay the ties of spiritual service 

Upon thy forehead . . . 

[Pause. In an altered voice. 

The maids attend the Chosen of the Goddess 

To her accustomed rooms that she may rest. 

Priestess, I beg to wait upon you later 

To instal you in the tower that expects 

Its mistress. 

[Hero slowly and mechanically 
moves off and exit right, fol- 
lowed by the maids by twos. 
Hero's face is expressionless; 
her bearing relaxed as if bereft 
of purpose. 

Priest 

(exultantly, to the people). 

Hail ! Hail ! Be glad, People of Sestos, 
You have again a priestess! Every day 
Henceforth she leaves these sacred solitudes 
At the appointed hour, to bring to all 
The multitudes that throng the Gate of Counsel, 



Hero and Lean her 6i 

The divine message, binding every transient 
Task of the Present to profound and calm 
Concerns beyond. As the vast peace of evening 
Offers a mirror of serene and boundless 
Light to the anxious disarray of day, 
Testing its virtue, so her hallowed presence 
Confronts your troubled vision with the glory 
From brows immortal shed, for test of truths 
Eternal. Hail! My people, hail! 



Sestans. 
The Chosen of the Goddess ! 

Priest. 



Hail, Hail! 



Peace be with you ! 
[ The Priest starts to go, making a 
gesture of dismissal. The Ses- 
tans break up in groups, mak- 
ing that stir of gladness and re- 
lief which attends the conclu- 
sion of a solemn celebration. 



62 Hero and Leander 

Madman 
(coming forward with silly dignity). 
Peace be with you ! I bring you the peace of 
the Great Nothing. 

First Sestan. 
What's he saying? 

Second Sestan. 
Poor fellow ! He thinks he's the priest. 

Third Sestan. 
He used to be the priest's disciple, didn't he? 

First Sestan. 
He ought not to be allowed the freedom of 
the grounds. 

[Priest motions to a guard; as the 
guard approaches the Mad- 
man, the latter shrinks away 
from him, saying: 



Hero and L B a n d e r 63 

Madman. 
Don't touch mel Would you break the ves- 
sel of the Great Nothing? (muttering to him- 
self). I low the touch of people soils you! 
(gesture of disgust). Baa! (Disappears 
among the Sestans.) 

[Exeunt Madman and Sestans* 

(As, last of all, the Priest and 

the remaining guards arc about 
to leave, Leander, dishevelled, 
his tunic torn, returns from the 
direction in which he was forced 
out; rushing up to the PriestJ 

Leander. 
Priest, I demand Hero! 

Priest 
{facing him, with determination) . 

The priestess dwells 
In the Gods' keeping. She has returned to the 
old 



64 Hero and Leander 

Tradition of her race, acknowledging 
The higher duty of a larger service. 

Leander. 
Can you stem, by a pledge, the tides of the 

ocean, 
Or halt the thunder cloud by sacred rite ? 
Can you, by solemn ceremony, arrest 
The buds of spring, or check the fruitfulness 
Of summer? Priest, you cannot stay, by one 
Rash vow, the tenor of our joint being! I 
Must speak to Hero. 

Priest 
(with sardonic indulgence). 

Youth is ever prone 
To endow the passing moment with eternal 
Validity, and clothe each painful loss 
With tragic splendour, beggaring the future 
To make a tyrant of its nursling past. 

[Some of the guards that drove off 
the Abydans return hurriedly 
from the same direction as 



Hero and Leander 65 

LEANDER. They arc about to 

attack Leander again. 

Priest. 
Peace, guards! 

You know the sacred law, Leander, 

And the law's penalty. Forbear to invite it! 

[Exit Priest, motioning to guards, 

who follow. 

Naukleros 
(returns) . 
Leander, come away. His heart is empty, 
Even as those boundless spaces that he worships, 
Feeding the fancy he calls love upon 
A vast inanity. Pour not your heart 
Upon a desert. 

Leander. 

I must see her, alone, 
Free from the priest's constraint; must have her 

speak 
In words, however strange and hard, but spoken 



66 Hero and Leander 

To me alone. I cannot go from her 

Thus! 

Naukleros. 

'Tis impossible! She dwells apart, 
In that dark tower by the sea. No road 
Leads thither past the Gate of Counsel. Alone 
The sun of morn can find his golden path 
Across the sea. No boat, no swimmer threads 
His way amid the jagged reefs, set close 
Like giant caltrops in the seething current. 

Leander 
(absorbed; to himself). 
Swimmer? . . . 

[Pause. Looking slowly and 
thoughtfully toward the tower 
and over the sea. 

Naukleros 
(troubled, with forced cheerfulness). 
Leander, come away ! This is all done 
And over with. Let's do something to drive 



Hero and Leander 67 

This poison from your spirit; something stir- 
ring! 
Revive our swimming feats of old. Let's swim 
The strait and race for home. Come ! 

Leander 

(absorbed, speaking slowly, with even emphasis, 

to himself). 

I will swim 
The strait. 

[Remains preoccupied, while 
Naukleros leads him off. 
Joyous shouts resembling the 
words, "Hail! Our priest- 
ess! " are heard in the distance. 



Curtain 



ACT III 



E 



Act III 

Scene I 

II XING of the same day. Hero's room 
on the ground floor of the tower. The 
room is bare and depressing in aspect, haz- 
ing dark-grey stone walls, and few, severe 
furnishings, among them a lyre. Entrance 
door on the left. In the back wall a large 
projecting window, with window seat, giv- 
ing upon the sea. In the immediate fore- 
ground of the sea vista, an ominous chaos 
of precipitous, jagged, dark rocks, with 
something like a narrow, many-angled sea- 
way through them. Scattered through this 
passage, submerged reefs disclosed by 
islands of white water; beyond, a wide ex- 
panse of sea, running in soft, oily, opales- 
cent undulations. Above the horizon, 
71 



72 Hero and Leander 

large, swelling clouds, such as in the eastern 
sky front toward the setting sun. Dusk 
has fallen everywhere except on the highest 
domes of these clouds, resplendent in golden 
light. On the right of the room, a door 
leading into another roam, 

[The stage is empty a few mo- 
ments after the rising of the 
curtain. Then enter the 
Priest and Hero. 

Priest. 

Hero, this is your home henceforward. Here 
The even stream of all your days will pass 
In the presence of the Gods that visit men 
In solitude and the exalted peace 
Of pious thought. 

Hero 

(Preoccupied, pale, expressionless, as if dazed, 
looks about the room slowly, hut with un- 
seeing eyes; answers nothing). 



Hero and Lbander 73 

Priest. 

No worldly ornament 

Offends the proven temper of your mind 
By vain distraction. Here you see the hooks 
Guarding the wisdom of the greatest few, 
Your writing instruments, and there your lyre 
Devoted to the service of the Gods 
Through sacred music. 

Hero 

(still speechless, nods). 

Priest. 

You are quiet, Hero. 
The day has been exacting, and the awe 
Attending on great consummations lays 
The hand of silence on your lips. 

[Paternally kind and solemn, lay- 
ing his hand on her head, as if 

blessing her. 

My child, 

Last offspring of our noble family, 
Thou entcrst on the sacred privilege 



74 Hero and Leander 

Held by us through unbroken generations 
Since it was founded. This has been the sum 
Of my most ardent prayers. This is our day 
Of days. The holiest office in the land 
Is ours again. My child, see thou to it 
That it remain unblemished. 

Hero 

(in a low voice, speaking mechanically) . 

Yes, I will, 
Dear uncle. 

Priest. 

Now, good-night, and be prepared 
To meet the people at the Gate of Counsel 
At the appointed hour, to-morrow. 

Hero 

(as above). 

Yes, 
Good-night, dear uncle. 

[Exit Priest. 
Hero 

(alone, standing motionless for a few moments, 
her arms hanging nervelessly down her 



Hero and Leander 75 

sides t only her head and eyes moving in a 

dazed survey of her room). 

This, then, is the goal ! 
Is this thy countenance, fulfilment? This 
Thy peace, attainment? Is this heaviness 
1 he hand of Life, and does this empty stare 
Convey the rich intent of being? Are Death 
And Life so close of kin? Where are you 

now, 
Spirits of service in a selfless cause, 
With which anticipation strove to crowd 
These sombre walls, to expel an earlier throng 
That would not be denied? Were you mere 

phantoms, 
Hiding your emptiness in glistening vestments, 
Snatched thievishly from those you would dis- 
place, 
Their rightful owners? Rally round me now, 
In this, my hour of need ! 

[Pause. A golden sunset light, re- 
flected from the clouds, il- 
lumines the room. She ap- 



y6 Hero and Leander 

proaches the window, looking 

out. 

You golden clouds 
Upon whose lofty brows the parting sun 
Has placed again his fiery diadem, 
You rouse enchanted visions that recall 
Too well the days when, as the sunset fires 
Melt in the gentle tumult of the sea, 
My being burned with the inner fires of his, 
And his, of mine. Where is the promised future 
You set upon those golden citadels 
And towers, Leander? Where our paradise, 
Whose shimmering domes, and slopes, and jew- 
elled gates 
You made me see? Where is the endless train 
Of dear fulfilments that you read for me 
From every wave that tumbled at my feet 
Its store of flashing treasures carried home 
From those far hills of promise? Ah, Leander, 
Tales must come true, lest in the bitterness 
Of disappointment we despise the more 
The meretricious skill that steals the semblance 



Hero and Leander 77 

Of truth. . . . Will those clouds be always 

there, 
To hold a mirror to the mockery 
Of the wan phantoms of a buried past 
Parading in the robes of living hopes? 

[The light fades out of the clouds. 
But, stay, dear phantoms; pause, ye glowing 

forms. 
Better a living semblance than the ashes 
Of lifeless certitude that flutter down 
The abyss of final night. 

[Darkness has gradually fallen. 
She lights a lamp, placing it in 
the window. Chrysa, one of 
the temple maids, is heard sing- 
ing outside. 
Apple blossoms on the breeze 
In abandon of release — 

Hero 
(startled). 

The blossom song 



78 Hero and Leander 

In Sestos! . . . 'Tis Chrysa's voice. Poor, 
untamed Chrysa! 

Chrysa's Voice 
(outside). 

Maiden of the wilful ways, 
Are the flower curtains rent? 
Wouldst escape the coming days? 
Wouldst forego their rich intent? 
Art a wild, unbridled thing 
That was never meant to serve, 
Or but spreading Fancy's wing 
In a house of still reserve? 

Hero. 
Can wishes grow so tame, they stay their need 
With dole of alien song? 

Chrysa's Voice. 

Apple blossoms on the breeze, 
Service over, comes release. 



Hero and Leander 79 

Hero 

(giving signs of suffering). 

Goddess, support me ! . . . 

[Pause. 

How heavy is the air; the wind's off shore, 

Driving the briny freshness of the sea 

From the warm land. 'Tis blossom time, and 

sweet 
Must be the orchard air. 

[Opens the outer door, on the left; 
stands in the door, looking out. 
What radiant forms 
Are swelling on my vision, as if the clouds, 
Kindling with silvery prescience of the moon, 
Had brought to earth the miracle they work 
On the far heavens! My hands reach out to 

touch them, 
And all my sense goes forth intent to drink 
The misty light, their own. Dear apple-trees, 
The year again repeats in you his vows, 
And you devotedly acknowledge them 
In your soft bridal garb. Beware! Vows fail 



80 Hero and Leander 

Sometimes, and there may be no other spring 
To make renewals. (Pause; closes the door.) 
[ Takes up the lyre in a preoccupied 
manner; sings softly. 
Apple blossoms on the bough, 
Light and Life possess you now — 
Sweet are Light and Life to thee, 
Maiden; Love waits on the way 
Where thou drinkest thirstily 
At the fountains of thy May, 
With a new light in thine eyes, 
And a wonder in thy heart 
Where the troubled mysteries 
And unbidden tremors start. 

Apple blossoms on the bough, 

Love 

[Realising what she is doing, in 
sudden terror. 

Priestess, 
What are you doing! 

[Drops the lyre. In a burst of un- 
controllable despair. 



Hero and Lb AN D II 8 1 

\\ hy did you not return 

Before this day, Leander; or why did you 

Return at all? 

[Brcuks down; sinks upon the seat 
by the window, weeping. After 
a while t she dries her tears; 
rises. 

'Tis over. 'Twas a mood 
Born of fatigue and the vague dread of newness. 
I am strong enough to face the past, Leander, 
Guarding its sweets without the numbing sting 
Of foiled desire. Leander, be my friend 
Henceforth; send the cool freshness of your 

strength 
To be my balm of healing; the clear flame 
Of your brave spirit that never blurs the 

edge 
Of right discernment, to remain with me, 
A light upon my darkened path. Thus will 
I keep of you all I now may, Leander. 

[Leanper's voice (through the 
window) : " Hero! " 



82 Hero and Leander 

[Hero starts; in a voice and 
attitude in which terror, joy, 
and an adverse determination 
mingle. 

Hero 
(to herself). 
Leander! 

Leander 
(his head and shoulders appear in the window). 
Hero! 

[Pause in which they look at each 
other. 

Hero. 

Go ! . . . Go ! . . . 

How dare you seek me here ! 

Leander 

(Leaps into the room. Hero steps back, erect 
and tense). 

Be not afraid. 

Let me stay but a little while. I shall 

Obey you when you bid me go. . . . Hero, 



Hero and Leander 8 j 

I disembarked this morning, alter three 
Long years <>t venture, bringing home the gain 

Of hopeful toil, certain to find my I Iero 
The same I left Insidious death 

amid 
The hostile desolation of strange lands 
Had heen less cruel than this return ! 

[Hero gives signs of distress. 

But no ! 
I have not come for weak complaint. Speak, 

Hero, 
One word of dear remembrance; let but one 
Inflection tell that in your inmost being 
The image of our love resists the pale 
Corruption of this desert — 

Hero 

(with anguished indignation). 

Is it brave 
To array the issues of the past against 
The present duty? Cruel 'tis, inhuman, 
To pour the bitterness of present loss 



84 Hero and Leander 

Even upon the tenderest possessions 

Of memory. 

Leander. 

Forgive me, Hero ! Ah ! 

I have lost the measure of humanity 

Since inhumanity has come to be 

A sacred duty, sundering us who grew 

As one. 

Hero 

(distressed). 

Pray, leave me now. The penalty 

Of your mad enterprise is death, and naught 

The profit save the unending agonies 

Of vain desires. 

Leander. 

Is it a vain desire 

To stay the hand which deftly cuts from under 

The present its live roots, destroying it 

By stealth? Does not Death come in many 

forms 
Subtler than that which slays outright? But 

give 



Hero and Leander 85 

One token that the spirit of our love, 

Forsworn, is \et not spurned into the oblivion 
Of things outcast; that the rich stream of life 
Which warmly flowed through you and me as 

one, 
Still nourishes your spirit, single now, 
And I, too, shall have faith to plant a future 
Upon the ruins of past hopes. 

Hero 

(eagerly, correcting him). 

A future 
On the fruition of past hopes! Our love 
Be thus a well of strength in both. Is not 
A past that lives in us to prompt each action, 
A present still? Why must we lay the hand 
Of gross possession on Love's heritage 
To hold its essence? 

Leander 

(with <!(•<•[> sincerity). 

Grief's a coward, eager 
To snatch at nostrums, temporising ever 



86 Hero and Leander 

With maladies it cannot cure. Hero, 
In this last hour, we must not shirk, we two, 
The direst sorrow which the unblinking years 
Will not evade. Although we live henceforth 
Within the presence of an undying past, 
Yet shall our severed lives no more attain 
Their fulness. Coming days demand the nur- 
ture 
Of new events. Languid they grow and wan, 
Sustained alone by Love's late uses. Love, 
Unmarred by flaws of feebleness or guile, 
Spurns the drear mockery that rests content 
With less than all, assuming lofty names 
To hide its nature. 



Hero 

(whose eagerness becomes more anxious, as if 
she were trying her last resource). 

Are Love's offices 
Wholly encompassed by the narrow sphere 
Of creature ministry? The pettiness 



Hero and Lean d er 87 

And degradation of small services, 

Sole keepers of Love's blessings? Can the 

spirit 
Extend unhampered wings when every fibre 
Is lax with sensual ease? 

Leander. 

Think of my mother, 
Hero. All of life's burdens she has borne, 
Those endless little things, each one so slight, 
Which slighted, suddenly accumulate, 
Mountains of misery, crushing underneath 
Their weight all lofty aims. Loving she is, 
And glad, and wise, knowing the needs of all, 
For having ministered to all the needs 
Of those she holds the dearest. Can the hand 
Of lovingkindness win the greater skill 
For helping strangers, only by withdrawing 
From those more near? Is there a life beyond 
Life's fulness, which is yet not less but more 
Than being? Does the spirit dwell apart 
And yet inform all things? 



88 Hero and Leander 

[With a sudden burst of tenderness 
and desperation, extending his 
arms toward her; she steps 
back, with her arms held rig- 
idly in front of her, as if to 
ward off a blow, and at the 
same time implore forbearance. 
Hero, my Hero ! 
Is this sweet spirit, whose host of living graces 
Leap out from each familiar motion, dwell 
In every tone, and look, and cherished contour 
Of all your being; this spirit that was as one 
With mine, is this another now, both living 
And dead; a mocking semblance of the past 
Without; within, the emptiness and death 
Of a priest's phrases? 

Hero 
(overcome with anguish). 

Ah! Leander. . . . Help me! 
[He approaches her. 
No, leave me. . . . Help me by leaving me — 
Do not 



Hero and LlANDBR 89 

Torment me more. . . . It is too hard, Lean- 
der; 
I never yet had to deny you, never, 
Until this day. . . .1 can no more. . . . 

[Staggers as if on the point of / 'till- 
ing; he takes her in his arms; 

she says faintly; 

Help me. 

[They stand together, he hold- 
ing her; her head slowly seek- 
ing his shoulder. 

Leander 
(with great tenderness). 

My beloved ! Hero ! Forgive me. I will be 

strong. 

Hero 

(still In his arms). 
'Tis better now. 

[Pause. 

How strong you are, Leander! 

[With a sad smile. 

Even in the potency of this great pain 



90 Hero and Leander 

You cause, is strength. 

[Looking up at him in radiant 
love. 

Ah! You are Life to me, 
One touch of you revives me. You are of those 
That cannot die. Leander, I was sad 
And in despair, but now the heaviness 
And gloom have fallen away like prison walls 
Of darkness. Light has come again, and hope. 
The vastness of the sea and starlit skies 
Is in me, and the strength of the great winds, 
As in those days when nothing was, save you 
And I. 

[A knock at the door is heard. 
Hero starts, leaves Leander, 
moves toward the door. Voice 
of the guard outside. 
Voice of the Guard. 
All lights must be extinguished at this hour. 
That is the law. Lights might show the pas- 
sage to the shore to prowlers of the sea. 

[Voice ceases. 



Hero and Leander 91 

1 Il.ko. 

[ Turning toward Leander; look- 
ing at htm with an expression 
showing thai she is endeavor- 
ing to reach a decision. 
'Tis time to leave me. . . . (Starting.) 

But Leander 
The guards are everywhere; there's no escape 
Except. . . . How did you come? I never 
thought 

Till now. . . . 

Leander. 

I swam the strait. 

Hero. 

You swam ! Without 
A light to guide you through the dreadful reefs 
That lurk, intent to set their jagged teeth 
In your warm flesh? 

Leander. 

Your lamp showed me the way. 



92 Hero and Leander 

Hero. 

My lamp? And now I must extinguish it, 
That guards your life ! Make haste, that I may 

keep it 
Till you are safe upon the open sea. 
(With sudden abandon.) 
Ah! Would I had the power of the sea 
To carry you beyond the reach of pain 
And danger. 

[Sounds of a disturbance without, 
as of a pursuit. An impetuous 
knocking at the door. 
(Hero terrified, speechless.) 

[The knocking repeated more in- 
sistently. 

Voice of the Guard 
(outside). 
Priestess! Guardian of the Shrine! 

Hero 

(in alarm; in a low voice). 

I must speak to him, Leander. 



Hero and Leandlr 93 

Pray, go into that room until I call you. 

[Leads him into the inner room; 
bars the door. She turns to- 
ward the outer door, very erect, 
pauses slightly; then, with a 
determined step, approaches it. 
As she opens it the noises of 
the disturbance outside become 
somewhat more distinct. She 
remains at the door, calling. 

Hero. 
The priestess is here, guard. 

Guard 

(remaining outside unseen; in an excited voice). 
The light must be extinguished immediately 
or I shall have to report to the priest. 

Hero. 

But why this haste? 
Voice of the Guard. 
Do you hear those noises, priestess? It 



94 Hero and Leander 

seems that one of those Abydan youths who 
came with their insolent leader, remained be- 
hind, hiding in the temple grounds. He was 
surprised with one of the maids of the temple. 
So one insolence begets a brood of others. The 
priest has issued strict orders to have our laws 
enforced. The alarm has been given to all the 
guards. They are pursuing the fellow now. 
(With a laugh.) He shall not escape us, by sea 
or land. But, pray, put out your light, priest- 
ess. It is against the law to keep it burning in 
a seaward window at this hour; and it may 
draw more of these night moths that seem so 
mad to have their wings singed. 

[Voice ceases. 
[Hero, at first, as if dazed, closes 
and bars the door; returns to 
the room, full of conflicting 
emotions. Pauses in the mid- 
dle of the room, looking as if 
fascinated by an inner prospect. 
An expression of terror grad- 



Hero and Leander 95 

ually passes into one of ac- 
ceptance, Approaching the 
Li in p in (i determined manner, 
she extinguishes it. There is 
enough light, as from an invis- 
ible young moon about to set, 
to disclose the sea through the 
window* Hero goes to the 
inner room, unbarring it, 
calling. 

Hero. 



Leander! 



Leander 
(entering). 
Hero I 

Hero 
(With something like the exultation of complete 

despair). 

All is lost, Leander. 
[Sounds tli rough the window, as 
of men passing outside. 



g6 Hero and Leander 

Listen ! The coast patrol ! 

(Raising her hands in prayer.) 

Ye Immortal Gods, 
Save him ! Life is so strong in him. But if 
He is to die, then let us die together, 
That in our death the unnatural division 
Of this one day be blotted out, and we 
Return together to the paradise 
Of undivided love which I forswore. 

[Pause. Then dropping her arms, 
turning to Leander and look- 
ing at him in an ecstasy of love. 
The present vanishes. The past has risen 
Again. It comes, an overwhelming flood 
Of life, crowding each moment with a full 
Burden of happiness . . . (in complete sur- 
render). 

Leander, 
Your love shall be my love; your truth be mine; 
By the strength of your spirit will I live. 

[They embrace. Leander draws 
her upon the window seat, 



Hero and LlANDER 97 

iv h c r c they sit silhouetted 
against the sea. They kiss 
while the scene curtain de- 
scends. 



Curtain 



T 



Scene II 

EMPLE grounds outside of Herds 
tower. The front of the tower ; contain- 
ing the main door, is seen in profile in the 
upper right corner of the scene. At the 
back, the rocky coast and the sea. Apple- 
trees in full bloom here and there about 
the scene, but so placed that the rocky sea 
passage and the tower are clearly seen 
through the centre. Time, immediately 
following the previous scene. Dim light. 
[As the curtain rises, Klyton and 
Chrysa are seen cautiously 
moving among the trees. 



Klyton. 
We have eluded them for the time being, 

but they will soon be upon us again. Is there 

98 



Hero and L e a n d b a 99 

no escape? Leave me, Chrysa, that you may 
not be made to sutler for my guilt. 

Chrysa. 

Hush! There's the priest himself. Let us 
hide ourselves from him. 

[Exeunt together. 

Priest 

(comes nulking, absorbed in contemplation). 

Ah, Life! Why dost thou shun the measured 

ways 
Of order? Why wanton on the tangled paths 
Unbridled passion spreads at will athwart 
Wisdom's designs? Why even upon this day 
Didst send thy rude hordes to invade these pre- 
cincts 
Of sacred peace? Thy brutal humour cast 
A blot upon the solemn rite. And yet 
More evil is afoot. 

[Distant noises of pursuit, calls 
and countercalls. The Priest 
stands listening. 



ioo Hero and Leander 

The guards are out, 
Hunting the latest breaker of the peace 
Whose boldness tops Leander's. 

[Pause. All is quiet again. 
The hand of Fate 
Stays never. The vain heart of man would set 
A Sabbath after every new achievement, 
To win fresh strength from quiet contemplation 
Of failure and success. But sleepless Fate 
Ere the last link in the endless chain of things 
Is closed, already is at work, preparing 
The substance of a coming one, and we 
Must do his bidding. 

[Guards come through the hushes 
from different sides; calls of: 

One Guard. 
I saw them turning toward the tower. 

Another Guard. 
They may be among the rocks by the tower. 

First Guard. 
Close in about the tower! 



Hero and Leander ioi 

[KLYTON and Chkysa enter, rush- 
ing from their hiding-place, the 
girl leading the man by the 
hand. She kneels before the 
PRIEST. Guards, as they see 
them, give up the pursuit, re- 
tiring in several small groups 
to a distance, where they are 
little noticed during the follow- 
ing events. 

Chrysa. 
Priest, I alone am guilty. I lured him 
Hither. 

Klyton. 
No, priest! I only am to blame. 
I stole into the enclosure. She could not 
Prevent me. 

Chrysa. 

He is a stranger, an Abydan, 
Tilling his fields in peace. He does not know 



102 Hero and Leander 

Our laws. I made him come, assuring him 
These grounds were open to our friends. 

Klyton. 

She lies, 

Believe me, priest, to save me. Give no cre- 
dence 
To anything impeaching her. Look at me. 
Could this frail girl prevent a sturdy fellow 
Like me from doing anything his heart 
Was set upon? My heart was set on seeing 
This maiden, priest. I love her, she loves me; 
And so I came. Pray, let us go together. 
Release her from her service that I may take her 
With me and call her wife. 

[Pause. Both look at the Priest 
in agonised expectation. 

Priest 

(sternly). 

Sacrilege 

Is the name of your crime; the penalty 

Is death. The spirit of disorder thrives 



Hero AND Leander i 03 

On clemency, and boldness mocks at mercy, 
Deeming it weakness. You are the seeond 

youth 
Abydos sends to-day to desecrate 
These grounds. ' 1 is time to establish an ex- 
ample. 
A judgment will be held for you to-morrow, 
And since this girl attends the Chosen of 
The Goddess, Hero has to sit in judgment 
With me. Do not anticipate more mercy 
From her young sternness. (Calling:) 

Guards ! 

ClIRVSA AND KLYTON 

(simultaneously imploring the PRIEST, on their 
knees; while the guards are holding back). 

Take me, take me; 
I am the guilty one ! Have mercy, priest ! 
Have mercy ! 

[Priest, with a set, hard face, mo- 
tions to the guards to take them 
away; the guards come to take 



104 Hero and Leander 

them. As they lay hands upon 
Chrysa, Klyton in despera- 
tion : 
Chrysa, though our bodies bend 
To force, our joined spirits shall remain 
Unbowed. If we were halt and weak and 

barren 
His pity would go out to us. Ah, priest, 
You hate all that are young and strong, in 

whom 
The stream of being runs full and warm; you 

hate them 
Because your shrinking heart keeps whispering: 
They are your lords. . . . Your heart, priest ! 

Like a snail 
It drags its clammy phlegm of weariness 
Which it dubs duty, o'er the bloom-fringed 

House 
Of Life. Beware ! Life's patient. But one day 
Her sudden foot will stamp you out, and Life 
Will keep on her untroubled way, not knowing 
Of you and all your works. 



Hero and Leander 105 

Priest 
(motioning to the guards to take them away, 
without speaking. After they are gone, he 

Walks a few steps, then slops, musing; half- 
puzzled, half -scornful). 

What is this Life, 
This mutinous thing, of which Leander vowed 
To-day he held the key; and now these two 
Are more initiates? What was it, set 
A light as if the Immortals smiled on them, 
Upon their brows and in their eyes even while 
He spoke, and she approved, those words of 

hate 
And blasphemy? What is the value of it 
That each would gladly lose his own to save 
The other? Is the madness of desire 
So great that, flouting its own selfishness, 
It turns to seek fulfilment in its own 
Undoing? 

[Pause. The light of dawn ap- 
pears over the sea. 
Ah! The night was rife with riddles 



106 Hero and Leander 

That subtly steal upon our sense, like darkness, 
And pass as subtly. Dawn's at hand to wake 
Day's sober purposes. 

[Slowly exit. 
[Dawn breaks gradually. Slight 
mists hang over the sea, which 
become suffused with a pearly 
light, moving and lifting, but 
not quite disappearing. The 
door of the tower opens and 
Hero steals out alone, carefully 
looking about in all directions. 

Hero 
(beckoning toward the door of the tower, calls 

softly). 
Leander ! 

[Leander issues from the door. 

Hero leads him to the centre 

of the scene, pausing near the 

narrow mouth of the rocky sea 

passage, the many sharp angles 



Hero and Leander 107 

of which partly reveal, partly 
conceal its course. Every trace 
of suffering and anxiety has 
disappeared from their faces. 
They are completely absorbed 
in each other and the present. 

Hero 

(pointing to the sea). 
Look ! The dawn ! 

Leander. 

Slowly he rises 

On the floor of the waters, gathering might 

To lift the earth from the abyss of darkness. 

Hero. 
His fires he kindles in the mists, and they 
Gently awake, and stir, and roll away, 
Setting a vast division 'twixt sea and sky. 

Leander. 

All heaviness is lifted and made fair 

In miracles of Dawn's transforming flames. 



108 Hero and Leander 

Hero. 

Like birds a-wing amid the vast twin-blue 
New hopes fly out into the boundless spaces. 

Leander. 
The air is like a less substantial sea, 
Its limpid freshness lays a living touch 
Upon each sense. 

Hero. 

It seems to penetrate 
The core of being; one with our blood, our 

breath ; 
A sweet coercion mingling with a sweet 
Abandonment. 

Leander 
(in a passionate outburst). 

Ah, Love ! How beautiful 
Thou art! Ah, Life! How great! (embracing 
Hero,). 

Hero. 

You are Life! 



Hero and Leander 109 

Leander. 

You are 

Greater than Life, for you hold all its power 

And sweetness prisoners of your heart. 

Hero 
(in his arms; joyously and intimately). 

Leander! 

Leander. 
Hero I 

Hero. 
Do you remember that — that day — 

Leander. 
Years, years ago, under the apple-trees? — 

Hero. 
When you — 

Leander 
(teasingly). 

Kissed me the first time? 



no Hero and Leander 

Hero. 

No, 'twas you 
Kissed me ! 

Leander. 

'Twas you ! Nor was it the first time. 

Hero. 
It was the first I knew it for a kiss ! 

Leander. 
How did you know? 

Hero. 

It was a flame, more fierce 
Than fire — 

Leander. 

More sudden than a bolt from heaven ! — 

Hero. 
And then, it flared between us. . . . 

Leander. 

As a wall 

Blotting the earth, and sky, and every thought — 



Hero and Leander III 

I ll RO. 
Ev'n you; and yet I knew 'twas you, it must 
Be you, for there was nought but you 1 

Leander. 

And I 
Hero. 

Stood gasping, and with every breath I . . . 

Leander. 

Drank 

The fire — 

Hero. 

Into my inmost being, and then — 

Leander. 
My life began — 

Hero 
(nestling close, with a laugh). 

Ah! but I was afraid! 

Leander. 
Of me? 



ii2 Hero and Leander 

Hero. 
No. . . . Yes. . . . No ; of the flames ! 

Leander. 

You, too? 
Hero. 

At touch of you they ran beneath my skin 

Like lightning shooting branches through the 

night 

Above the sea. 

Leander. 

And when I heard your voice, 
The rustle of your skirts, 

Hero. 

Your step afar, 

Even the mention of your name, the fires 

Came rushing from their hidings (hiding her 

face at his bosom). 

Leander 
(after a slight pause). 

Have they come 
Again? 



Hero and Leander 113 

Hero 

(raising her head). 
Have they not come again ! (long kiss, 

then disengaging herself). 

'Tis time, 
The guards wake soon. 

Leander. 

Your lamp will light my way 
Again to-night? 

Hero 

(looking at him full). 
It will. 

Leander. 

And there will be 
No parting after! 

Hero 

(simply). 

I will follow you. 
Your way shall be my way. 



ii4 Hero and Leander 

Leander. 

What is the promise 
And pride of this vast light beside the boon 
One little lamp will send on its shy ray 
To me across the waters ! 



Hero. 

I shall count 

The ripples bursting at my feet. Each one 

Will shorten, by a moment, the interval 

Day sets between us. 

Leander. 

Hero, my beloved, 



Farewell. 



Hero. 

Farewell, Leander. 

[Leander disappears; Hero re- 
mains standing a while, looking 
out upon the sea. Leander 
reappears. 



Hero and Leander 115 

1 .1 AND] K. 

Hero, dearest, 

I will charge each ripple that 1 meet upon 
My way, with sweetest burden of my love. 
They will be faithful bearers, for the sea 
Loves you and me. 

Hero. 
And I will take their message 
Upon my lips and hands as they discharge it 
Sparkling upon the shore. Would I could keep 

them 
Unchanged, that they might tell me more than 

you 
Knowingly gave them. Ah ! They all will 

come 
Flushed with the sweetness of your touch, eager 
To boast of it to me, and taunt me with it, 
As one deserted! 

Leander 

(with loving pedantry). 

Have no fear, beloved, 



n6 Hero and Leander 

Love cannot lose his tokens unawares; 

They have no being save in the sweet concur- 
rence 

Of mutual devotion. Interlopers 

Might steal the semblance, but could not with- 
hold 

The essence from its rightful owner. 

Hero 

(startled, in a suppressed voice). 

Hush! 
I hear sounds as of footsteps. Go ! 

[Leander exit. 

Hero 

(remains listening. After a zvhile she raises her 
head, saying:). 

Leander, you are Life. I have no fear, 

No evil can o'ertake you. 

[Anxiety has disappeared from her 
face. She is erect, her face 
radiant. Raising her arms 
toward the sky, now quite light, 



Hero and Leander 117 

she speaks as if pronouncing an 
invocation. 
Slowly the opal flower of morning rises, 
Opens, and spreads, and shines on the marvel- 
ling sea, 
And from its golden heart, through misty guises, 
Wells, with the tides of light, thy love to me. 

[Exit into the tower, closing the 

door. 
[As the curtain begins slozvly to 
descend two guards come run- 
ning from left toward the 
shore. They point repeatedly 
toward the sea, making excited 
gestures. They finally stop 
upon the shore, peering in- 
tently seaward. 



Curtain 



ACT IV 



A 



Act IV 

Scene I 

BY DOS. The scene as in Act I, but 
without the decorations of the festi- 
val. Leander' s father, Peithonomos, and 
Naukleros, his comrade, are discovered. 



Peithonomos. 

You do not think, then, that Leander plans 
War on the priest. Our young men are in- 
censed 
O'er yesterday's events; and now the news 
Of Klyton's threatened fate has been as oil 
On fire. One leader like Leander now, 
And all the good achieved by generations 
Through patient rectitude, will be consumed 
In one swift conflagration. 



121 



122 Hero and Leander 

Naukleros 

(with forced assurance). 

Rest assured. 
He has kept his counsel in the ship since we 
Parted, last night, bidding the watch admit 
No one. He left alone, but a short while 
Ago. No doubt, he'll soon be here. 

Peithonomos. 

I hope 

It may be so. Naukleros, for three years 

I have longed to see my only son. But if 

I found him leagued with lawlessness and crime 

I'd cast him off. (Pause; softening more and 

more.) 

Go; look for him and bring him 

To see his parents whom he hardly stopped 

To greet. We'll have some tales from him. 

We'll make 

A night of revelry. (Looking up at the sky.) 

How sultry 'tis ! 

The clouds are gathering in our weather corner 



I I E R O AND LeANDER I 2 ] 

Southwest, where the heaviest storms are 

hatched. Make haste 
To fetch him ere it breaks. 

[Exit Peithonomos. 

Naukleros 

(No longer hiding his anxiety). 

I wish I knew 
What to make of it. Leander's not the man 
To mope alone, coddling inactive sorrow. 
What stratagem could he have laid that shuns 
Friendly communication? 

(Seeing Leander coming from left back.) 

There he is ! 
The Gods be praised! (Calling:) 

Leander! 
[Enter Leander, dressed in the 
Doric tunic, as in Act III . He 
is preoccupied, the fixedness of 
a single purpose giving a cer- 
tain rigidity to his face and 
every gesture. He raises his 



1 24 Hero and Leander 

hand, demanding silence. 
There is desire of secrecy ex- 
pressed in his bearing, but 
no furtiveness. He evidently 
wishes not to be detected, yet 
would not be arrested in his 
purpose, whatever happened. 
He walks slowly toward Nau- 
kleros, who advances partly up 
stage, showing that Leander' s 
aspect renews his anxiety. 

Leander. 

I was looking 
For you, Naukleros. 

Naukleros 
(with forced gaiety). 

And I for you. Well met, then. 

Leander. 
How are my parents? Do they deem their son 
Unloving ? Are they troubled at the events 
In Sestos yesterday? 



Hero and LbANDBK 125 

Nauki.i R08. 

They have forgotten 

It all. Your lather, a few minutes hence, 
Asked me to iwul you. The) would make a 

night of it 
With tales and feasting. Come, let's hurry to 

them, 
They are sick for sight of you. 

Leander. 

I have to speak 
To you, Naukleros. 

Naukleros 

(his anxiety rising sharply; trying to cover it 

by gaiety). 

Now? Alone? Are they 
State secrets? 

Leander 
(ignoring NAUKLEROS 1 words). 

I have planned another venture 
For which I count on you. 



126 Hero and Leander 

Naukleros 

(relieved, yet not without misgivings). 

That is Leander! 
Brave action is the cure for hopeless sorrow. 
Count on me ! I am weary of the land 
Already. Countless petty cares contract 
The soul amid these fields and streets, all num- 
bered 
And named; my courage shrinks amid these 

prisons 
Of tame convention. Enterprise grows timid; 
The spirit that makes it leap the ordered fences 
Walling initiative, turns to intrigue, 
And ratlike gnaws a hole beneath. Count on 

me! 
Give me the uncharted seas, the lands and 

mountains 
Surveyed by no man, and the men not branded 
Like toilsome oxen, with the shaming stamp 
Of custom. . . . But there's time enough to 
talk 



Hero and Lbandbr 127 

That over when the ship is docked. Come now I 
Your parents want you. 

Leander. 

I must go to-night. 



Naukleros. 



Leander! 



Leander. 

Hear me out. The ship must be 
Ready by midnight to weigh anchor. At that 

hour 
You take the long boat with the six best oars- 
men 
As near to Hero's tower as the shore reefs 
Permit. You'll see a light in Hero's window. 
L T pon a line drawn from it to the light 
At my ship's masthead, keep the boat, until 
I swim to you. I then will guide the boat 
Through a safe channel to the shore and take 
Hero aboard. Then to the ship to seek 
New life and happiness in foreign lands. 
I count on you, Naukleros. 



123 Hero and Leander 

Naukleros 

(aghast)* 

But your parents! 
Leander, think of them ! 

Leander. 

Do not corrupt 

My heart against my purpose now. A crisis 

Like this requires a mind that can suspend 

Its dearest wish until the issue. 

Naukleros. 

And what 

Will be the issue? Do you know your father? 

He has sworn to cast you off if you o'erturn 

The public peace. If he should learn your plan 

He'd be the first to warn the priest. 

Leander. 

The greater 
The need of haste. 

Naukleros. 
Though your heart bar out 
Your parents, it cannot exclude the Gods; 
This plot is sacrilege. 



Hero and Leander 129 

. Leander. 

An empty word 

A priest contrived that children might invest 

With superstitious dread his godless whim. 

1 he Gods withhold their countenance from such 

Perversion of their will. 

[Darkness has gradually fallen 
during this scene. A flash of 
distant lightning front the left 
is followed by a low rumble of 
thunder of some duration. 

Naukleros. 

Delay this night! 
No man can hold his course, when such a storm 
Turns night to blackness. 

Leander 

(with a sort of flippancy). 

The lantern of the storm 
Will light my way when in the trough o' the sea 
I miss the light of Hero's lamp. 



130 Hero and Leander 

Naukleros. 

'Tis madness 

To think of swimming in this sea when all 

The wild iEgean hurls its weight through this 

Strait passage. 

Leander. 

It will bear me all the faster 
To th' other shore. 

Naukleros 

(stepping between Leander and the sea as if 
to intercept him). 

You shall not do it; not 
Unless you kill me first. 

Leander 

(drawing his dagger; with dangerous 
calmness). 

Stand off! The power 
That rules me now has all the bitter strength 
And fierce compulsion of the sea. I must 
Go now, over your body if you force me. 
(With great warmth:) 



Hero and Leander 131 

But no, Naukleros, there's a better weapon 

That you will not withstand. (Sheathing his 

dagger.) 

This is my hour 

Of greatest need. You cannot fail me now 

Who never failed, Naukleros. 

Naukleros. 

I owe my life 
To you, Leander. . . . 

Leander. 

No, not thus. Friendship 
Is greater far than the mere breath of life. 
Do not dishonour it by any price 
You set on it. 

Naukleros. 

Leander, I will do 
As you desire. 

[They embrace. 

Leander. 

There is no time to lose. 
At midnight, then ! 



132 Hero and Leander 

[He turns, runs toward the shore, 
flinging off his upper garment. 
As he disappears there is a 
bright flash of lightning and 
heavy peal of thunder, much 
nearer than before. 

Naukleros 
(raising his arms imploringly toward the sea). 
Thou lov'st him, sea ; protect him ! 
Thou God of Storms, watch o'er him ! 

[A gust of wind and distant rum- 
ble of thunder. 



Curtain 



Scene II 

f\UTSIDE lino's tcmcr in Sestos, as in 
^^ Act III, Scene ii. Time, immediately 
following that of the last scene. The 
priest and Hero are discovered. It is 
almost night, yet light enough to see 
everything distinctly. Heavy, threatening 
clouds, with occasional distant flashes of 
lightning, without thunder, are seen over 
the sea. 

Priest 

(sternly). 
Hero, you still refuse to pass the sentence 
Of law upon that fellow from Abydos 
And his lewd mistress? 

Hero 

(distressed and perplexed). 

Do not press me, pray! 
I do not see my way to do it. 

133 



134 Hero and Leander 

Priest. 

The law 
Supplies the way. 

Hero. 

Something in me rebels 
Against the penalty. 

Priest. 

For generations 

This law has been the safeguard of our faith. 

Hero. 

Why should it be a crime for them to love 
Because she owns . . . (hesitates) this faith? 

Priest. 

Hero, you strike 
At our foundations! 

Hero 

(frightened). 

Pray, be not offended! 

Uncle ! Be lenient with them. . . . They did 

not know. . . . 

They did not think. . . . 

[Embarrassed pause. 



Hero and Leander 135 

Priest 

(displeased). 

I shall defer the judgment 
Until to-morrow. 

Hero 

(in a burst of relief). 

The Gods be praised! . . . 

(Then, with more moderation, to the Priest./ 

I thank you, 
Dear uncle ! 

[A flash of lightning and heavy 

but distant peal of thunder over 

the sea. Hero, starting: 

The storm is coming. I must go 

Within, I have some duties there. 

[Exit into tower. 

[During the following, now and 

then signs of the approaching 

storm. 

Priest 

(alone; distressed). 

Hero! 
But yesterday, severe with all the sharp 



136 Hero and Leander 

Austerity of youth. And now! What could 
Have wrought the sudden change in one 
Of Hero's constancy? 

[The two guards that appeared at 
the end of the Third Act, enter 
from the left, somewhat embar- 
rassed and hesitating, as if not 
sufficiently sure of themselves. 

First Guard. 
Priest, we saw something at dawn that looked 
suspicious. We couldn't exactly make it out, 
and have been doubtful whether it was anything 
of importance. And yet we saw too much to 
regard it as nothing. Will you hear it? 

Priest. 

Tell me precisely 

All that you saw, no more. Withhold all vague 

Surmises. 

First Guard. 

At early dawn this morning we heard a noise 
as if some one plunged into the sea. 



Hero and L B A N D BR 137 

Si ( ond Guard. 

The sea was quite calm, you know. 

Priest. 

Well? 

First Guard. 
We ran toward the place where we heard the 
sound and saw what looked like the head of a 
man swimming away from here. 

Priest. 
From here? 

First Guard. 
Yes. It was right here by the tower. 

Priest 
(becoming interested). 

The tower? Did you 
Make sure it was a man? 

First Guard. 
Not quite sure, priest, in the mist. 



138 Hero and Leander 

Second Guard. 

The morning mist hung over the sea. It 
lifted a little near the shore, but came down 
again in the middle of the strait, so that the 
swimmer, or whatever it was, disappeared in it 
as he swam away. 

Priest. 

You say, this man 
Swam toward the open sea? 

First Guard. 

Yes, I should say he headed straight for 
Abydos. 

Priest 

(startled) . 

Abydos ? 

Second Guard. 

Yes, priest. And because one of those in- 
solent Abydans was caught here last night, we 
finally agreed we ought to report to you. 



Hero and 1 . i \ N d i: r 139 

Priest 

(to himself). 

From Hero's tower! 
(To the guards.) 
Who are the best known swimmers hereabout? 

Second Guard. 

There's Nauklcros. (Brightening up.) But 

the greatest of all is Leander. He won all the 

races. 

Priest 

(aghast; to himself). 
Leander! 

Second Guard. 

Oh, Leander used to swim the strait. He 
went faster than you could row a boat. 

First Guard. 

The swimmer this morning swam faster than 
any man I ever saw. He (pointing to Second 
Guard) thought it was a porpoise. But por- 
poises don't swim alone, and straight for 
Abydos ! 



140 Hero and Leander 

Priest. 
Have you any more to tell ? 

First Guard. 
No, priest. That's all. 

Priest. 
Thank you. 
[As the guards turn to leave, some 
of the rocks jutting out into the 
sea passage take a light, first 
flickering, then moving, and 
finally remaining stationary, as 
of a lamp, lit, carried to, and 
left in the tcwer window, fac- 
ing toward the sea. The 
guards start, noticing it. 

First Guard. 
Priest, there was a light in the tower window 
last night. I had to insist several times on its 
being put out. There it is again. It might 
light the passage through the rocks for any 
prowler of the sea. 



Hero an d L B a nder 141 

Priest 

(showing profound emotion; to himself). 

A light in 1 Icro's window, lighting 
The passage! (To the guards:) 

Stay! 
[Pause. The PRIEST betrays signs 
of a terrible inner struggle. 
He finally becomes calm. His 
face is rigid, with an expres- 
sion of hard re soke. To the 
guards: 

Go ! Call the priestess. I 
Request to see her. You remain to guard 

The shore. 

[Guards go to the tower, knock at 

the door. The door is opened 

by an unseen person, to whom 

the guards speak, pointing to- 

ward the Priest, who stands 

motionless, looking fixedly at 
the toner. It is dark. Thun- 
der and lightning, intermingled 



142 Hero and Leander 

with gusts of wind, more fre- 
quent. Hero comes out of the 
tower, advancing toward the 
Priest. Her bearing betrays 
anxiety which she tries to cover. 
The guards station themselves 
back, near the passage through 
the rocks. They are noticed 
only by occasional movements. 

Priest 
(with unnatural calmness). 

A lamp is burning in your window, 
Hero. Our law prohibits lights that might 
Betray our shore to adventurers. 

Hero 

(with forced unconcern) . 

But who 
Would come a night like this? 

\The storm increases in severity. 



Hero and Leander 143 

Priest. 

The light must be 
1 Jttinguished, 

Hero. 

Very soon Til do it. 

Priest. 

Immediately. ^ es » 

Hero. 

Grant me a little while. 
I need the light. 

Priest. 

The law wants darkness. 

Hero. 

I . . . 

The priestess is not subject to such rules ! 

Priest. 
Hero! Remove the light! 

Hero. 

I cannot do it. 
Priest. 

Then I must do it to save you from yourself! 

[He makes a motion as if going to 

the tower. 



144 Hero and Leander 

Hero 

(in terror). 

I'll do it myself. . . . That is the priestess' 

room, 
Let no man enter it! 

Priest 

(raising his hand). 

Let no man enter it! 

(Turning as if to go toward the tower.) 

It must be done. 

Hero 

(seizing his arm). 

You shall not do it. It is 
My room. 

Priest 

(struggling to free himself, gradually moving 

toward the tower). 
I must! 

Hero 

(in her losing struggle with the Priest utters a 

succession of desperate and helpless:). 
No ! No ! . . . No ! . . . No, No, No ! . . . 



Hero and Leand b r 145 

[ Tlii v have arrived at the steps 
leading to the tower door. 
With a sudden movement the 
Priest frees himself from 

Hero, flinging her from him. 
He dashes into the towtr, slam- 
ming the door. Sounds of its 
being barred inside. An in- 
stant later the light on the rocks 
disappears. Hero, who has 
half fallen, recovers herself, 
rushes up the steps after him, 
throwing herself against the 
door, which does not yield. 
After trying the door several 
times, she sinks upon the top 
step, moaning. 

Stay ! I will tell you all. 



Only stay! 



[Pause, The door is unbarred and 
opened. IIl.Ko rises, looks to- 
ward the open door in sfu cell- 



146 Hero and Leander 

less terror; then shrinks back 
down the steps, continuing on 
the level ground, constantly 
facing the door. In the door 
appears the Priest, holding the 
extinguished lamp in his hand. 
He pauses a while, then slowly 
descends the steps, looking fix- 
edly at Hero. 

Hero. 

Pray, give me the lamp. 

Priest. 

I cannot. 
I keep the lamp to-night. 

Hero 
(rushing toward him; on her knees, clasping 

his) . 

Imprison me! 

Kill me 1 Cast me into that sea ! 
(White foam now and then leaping over the 

rocks.) 



H 1-; r o and Leandlr i 47 

But leave 
The light this one night. Uncle, dearest uncle I 

Save him ! Ah, save him ! I Ic is lighting there, 
There, in that horror now! If the light fails 
He dies, alone, forsaken; his heart will call 
Me murderer. Save him, pray, save him, and I 
Will be your slave henceforth. 

Priest. 

I cannot save him. 
But you, I will ! 

(To guards, who come running:) 

Hasten, give the alarm ! 

The guards in force patrol this coast throughout 

The night! Neglect no cove, nor slightest 

channel 

That might give access to the shore. 

(Holding out the lump.) 

Take this 

To my house. Bid the steward keep it 

Safe till I ask for it myself. 

[First Guard takes it. The 

guards arc about to leave when 



148 Hero and Leander 

Hero rises in madness of des- 
peration. 

Hero. 
Stay, guards! (They halt.) 
'Tis I, the Chosen of the Goddess, bid you ! 
Return the lamp to me ! 'Tis mine, and I 
Alone may have it. 

[The guards hesitate, looking 
from the Priest to Hero in 
embarrassment. 

Priest 

(with decision). 

Go ! I am your master. 
You take my orders. 

[ The guards turn to go. 

Hero 

(beside herself). 

Stay, or I, the priestess, 
Will curse you. 

[Moving as if to pursue the 

guards. The Priest steps in 



Hero AND I.eander i 49 

front of her, extending his arm 

to kali her. She recoils. Sud- 
denly she reels, stating in front 
of her, screaming: 

Is it you, Leander? You 
Are Life. They cannot slay you. Do you see 
Your Hero's light to guide you? . . . No? 

. . . Not yet? . . . 
I'll bring it nearer . . . nearer. Ha! . . . 

Blackness, 
Blackness ! 

[Falls unconscious at the Priest's 

feet. 

Priest 

(calling hack the guards). 

Here, guards! Come quickly! 
[The guards come running hack. 

(To First Guard :) 

Run, summon 
Attendants to the priestess. She is ill. 

[Exit First Guard. 



150 Hero and Leander 

(To Second Guard :) 

You help me bear the priestess to her room. 

[While they carry Hero into the 
tower, enter the Madman, 
from the right. The storm 
breaks with terrible force, with 
lightning, thunder, a great 
wind and rain. White foam 
leaping high over the rocks. 
Priest and guard, carrying 
Hero, disappear in the tower. 
Enter three maids, hurrying 
into the tower. Priest and 
guard issue from the tower 
door, closing it. Guard exit to 
right. Priest alone in the 
storm. 

Priest 

(giving signs of great suffering; not noticing 
the Madman,). 

A mighty house has fallen; a sacred cause 
Lies buried in the ruins. Ye Gods, whose voice 



Hero and Le A N D B R 151 

Sounds in the storm, the judgment rests with you 
Alone! Find you the guilty one, speak you 
The sentence ! 

[During the following scene, 
guards pass and repass now 
and then along the shore. 

Madman 

(shambling up to the Priest, tapping him on 

the shoulder). 

[The Priest turns abruptly. 

Throughout this scene the 

storm is at its height. 

Ho, friend! By your looks, you are on the 

same errand as I. It is an errand of love. Let 

us go together! 

Priest. 

Leave me, friend. I must not be 
Disturbed. 

Madman 

(to himself). 

He, he, he! He, too, wishes to get rid of 

me. How every one loves me ! I don't love 



152 Hero and Leander 

him, so I wish to keep him till I love him. And 
then — (with a gesture of disposing of an imag- 
inary person) — he goes! 

Priest. 

Tell me your errand quickly, friend, 
And leave me. 

Madman. 

I am looking for the Quintessence of Life ! 

Priest 
(taken back). 
Of Life! He, too, of Life! 

Madman 
(whispering in his ear). 
Yes, and I am on the track of it to-night. 
But it is a secret. It is the Great Nothing! 

Priest 

(startled; to himself). 

The Great 
Nothing ! 



Hero an 13 Lean her 153 

Madman 
(picking an imaginary flower). 
Do you see this rose? 

Priest. 

Go on. Yes. 
Madman 

(tearing off the petals of an Imaginary rose and 
flinging them theatrically to the winds). 

Well, I am picking its petals now, one by one, 
one by one. Look. Do you know what I am 
going to find? Its heart, he, he, he! When I 
have picked all the petals, then I have the heart 
of the rose. That is the Great Nothing. 

Priest 

(startled, as if a fearful idea is beginning to 

dawn on him). 

Ah! 
Madman. 

Are you afraid? I am often afraid of the 
Great Nothing; when all is calm and I hear 
children laughing. But when it is like to-night, 



1 54 Hero and Leander 

then I am glad and come out to see the storm, 
picking the petals of the world and scattering 
them. This is a great night! How the petals 
are flying! He, he, he! It is as if the storm 
would get at the heart of things. Then we 
shall have the Quintessence of the Gods. The 
Great Nothing, that is the God! He, he, he! 

Priest 

(shuddering). 

Ami 
Awake? Is this a nightmare, or has he 

Come from the blackest corners of my soul 

To taunt me with their ancient horrors? 

Madman 

(pointing to the shore rocks over which white 
foam is seen leaping). 
Do you see them peeping over the rocks? 
He, he, he! I had a wife, and children, and 
friends. I picked them all, like a rose; one by 
one, one by one, until I had the pure Nothing- 
ness of Love. The Great Nothing, that is Love. 



Hero an-d L B andf.r 155 

It's all the same; the rose, the Gods, Love. The 

Great Nothing, that is the secret. He, he, he! 

Priest 

(agonised; lifting up his hands). 

Ye Gods! 
The burden is too heavy. Speak to me 
Out of this night of anguish. Take my life! 
I tried to hold the purpose of my life 
True to your service. Make an end. I can 
Not bear it longer. 

[A blinding flash of lightning, im- 
mediately followed by a fear Jul 
crash of thunder. 

Madman 
(terror-stricken). 
[The Priest shows during this 
passage signs of an increasing 
mad fascination, as if entering 

into the Madman's spirit. 

Hooh ! I am afraid 1 The bosom of the 
Great Nothing is opening. 1 [ow cold and 



156 Hero and Leander 

black ! Oh ! Oh ! The serpents are coming 
out of the darkness. People say, they are the 
winds in the grasses. But I know better. They 
are serpents. They are trying to run away 
from the Great Nothing because they are the 
enemies of the Gods. (Shrieking.) They will 
swallow us, you and me. (Calmer.) But the 
Gods will overtake them. He, he, he! 

Priest 
(grasping him, eagerly). 

Say that again, that last. 

Madman 
(leaping away in terror). 

Do not handle me roughly. I might break. 
(With a silly pride.) I am not of flesh and 
blood, I am of a finer stuff. I am made of glass, 
so that the Great Nothing can shine through 
me and illumine the world. Do you wish to 
extinguish the Light of the World? 



Hero and Leander 157 

Priest 

(starts violently at the List nurds; then tries to 
possess himself ; finally, in simple faith). 

The Immortal Gods will help me. I must seek 

In prayer their counsel. 

[Slowly exit to right. 

Madman 

(looking after him). 
He, he, he! How he loves me. He tried to 
break me, he loves me so. (Feeling of himself.) 
But I am quite whole. I must keep out of his 
way, though ; he's dangerous ! 

[Stepping behind each tree as if 
seeking shelter from a pursuer. 
The storm from now on abates 
gradually. Enter tzvo guards 
from the left. 

First Guard. 
What a fearful night! 

Second Guard. 

The storm is abating now. 



158 Hero and Leander 

First Guard. 

That may be. But look at the sea ! (Point- 
ing into the distance to some point unseen by the 
audience.) 

Second Guard. 

Can you make out Elephant's Back? 

First Guard. 

Well, you know how high it is. The waves 
sweep clean over it. Not foam, mind you, but 
dark water. 

Second Guard. 
By Neptune! It will go hard with any one 
that was caught out in this weather. 

[They pass on, by Hero's tower. 

First Guard. 
They say the priestess is raving mad in there. 

Second Guard. 
Over the storm? 



Hero and Lb a n t d b R 159 

First ( iUARD. 
Guess again! People don't go mad over a 
bit of wind and water. 

[A cry from the tower. 



Curtain 



ACT V 



T 



Act V 

HE same scene. It is early morning. All 

is glistening dewy freshness and peace. 
A clear sky with a rising sun. The sea is 
calm, showing no traces of the storm. 
Fresh seaweed is scattered over the rocks, 
and a large heap of it on the beach in front 
of the sea passage between the rocks. 

[The door of the tower opens. In 
it appears Hero with the 
maids that came in the preced- 
ing scene to attend her. Hero 
pauses a main cut at the door. 
Then they all descend. 

Philanthe 

(one of the maids, in a gay manner, trying to 
cheer 1 lERO), 
Look, priestess, how calm the sea is. It it 



1 64 Hero and Leander 

were not for the drops falling now and then 

from the leaves, and the seaweed on the shore, 

one would not believe that there had been a 

storm at all. 

Hero 

(to herself, as if repeating a story she has told 

to herself many times before). 

My signal failed. The lamp outlasted scarcely 

One flash of lightning. My poor ray could not 

Outspeed the dazzling javelins of the storm. 

Leander never started. (Turning furtively to 

the sea, hut rapidly averting her face from 

it again.) 

The Gods were good 

To him. The sea loves him. It gave him 

warning. 

Philanthe. 

I feel so light, as if I could fly. Ah ! Priest- 
ess, how beautiful it is to be alive. 

Hero 

(still to herself, but less absorbed). 
The morning seems to come on spirit's wings, 



Hero and Leander 165 

It is so free and light. All heaviness, 

Whose name is death, has gently fallen away. 

PlIILANTIII. 
(drawing a deep breath). 
Ah ! Take a deep breath, like that, priest- 
ess ! It washes your soul so clean you feel as if 
you had been made new again. 

Hero 
(somewhat comforted, involuntarily doing as 
PilILANTllE has bidden her; smiling a lit- 
tle; then speaking r aptly as if in adora- 
tion). 
Ah! Such must be the breath of Life that 

meets 
The immortal Gods upon those shining heights 
Where they arise to accept the adoration 
Of the returning sun. It must have been 
Thus to the first men when the earth and sky 
Brought forth the morning; when the new-born 
sun 



1 66 Hero and Leander 

Could wake no memory of heavy things; 
When expectation could foresee fulfilments 
Greater than promises, and did not shrink 
With fearful doubt. 

(She is depressed again.) 

Another Maid 
(trying to divert her). 
Priestess, look at that large heap of seaweed 
the waves have piled up, there at the rock pas- 
sage. I have never seen such a heap there be- 
fore. Let us look for shells in it. 

Hero 

(to the maids). 

Pray, leave me now, 

I am quite well. The terror of the night 

Has left me. You, Philanthe, ask the priest 

To see me. He will find me here. I wish 

To speak to him. 

[Exeunt maids. 

[Hero alone; moves as if to go to 

the sea passage in the rocks; 



Hero and LeANDBR 167 

but hastily turns away, looking 

fixedly tit sonic point on the 

left, straight in front of her* 
She acts us if she l eh u fearful 
unseen presence drawing her to 
the edge of the sea, and again 
repelling her. She looks now 
and then fearfully and hesitat- 
ingly around, as if trying to 
muster up courage to face it; 
but immediately turns away 
again with an abrupt, alnust 
jerky movement of her head. 

Hero. 

The Gods were kind. If he 
Were lost, all of Abydos would now be 
Afloat to search for him. No anxious prow 
Darkens the radiant sea. 

(Again trying to look around at the >ea, but 
quickly turning her hciid azeay.) 



168 Hero and Leander 

A fiend of darkness, 
With malice fraught, priest; so my madness 

saw you 
Last night. Forgive me! Now, I know you 

walked 
In the mantle of mercy, guarding him 
From death, and me from murder. In that 

sea 
No light would have availed. 
(Trying once more to look at the sea, furtively; 
but again averting her head from it quickly. 
Then, speaking with determination:) 

What foolish fear 
Possesses me, as if an awful presence, 
Half drawing me, and half repelling, stood 
Behind me, beckoning, at the passage? I 
Must turn straight on it, to dispel it. 

\JVith her hands clenched at her 
sides, arms rigidly extended 
downward, she turns toward 
the passage. A very brief 
pause; then she advances 



Hero and Lean der 169 

straight toward the passage; 
stops half-way. 

Behold! 
'Tis gone. Yes, I can face the sea now. I 
Can look even upon this deadly passage 
Whose hungry maw had to content itself 
With these poor mangled seaweeds. 

[Advances toward the heap of sea- 
weed. Suddenly starting back. 
What is that, 
That white thing? 

[Slit' emits a terrible scream; then 
rushes forward, throws herself 
upon the heap of seaweed, fran- 
tically snatching up and throw- 
ing away a few handfuls of 
weeds. She is now holding 

Leander' s head, which is hid- 
den by her. 

Leander! Leander! Speak to me ! 
Speak to me! Leander 1 Leander! 

[Busying herself over him franti- 



170 Hero and Leander 

cally; snatching the weeds from 
his body and scattering them 
about her, without rising or 
turning away. She rises, turns 
toward the audience, standing 
rigid; with a white and expres- 
sionless face, saying mechani- 
cally : 

Dead. Leander, dead. 
[Pause. An illumination spreads 
over her features. She turns 
toward the body, falling upon 
it. On her knees. 
Leander! Dearest! So you would not wait 
For me upon your journey? Stole away 
To win the start of me! Was that fair play? 
Did I not promise I would follow you 
Where'er you led? (Drawing his dagger.) 

Ah, but you left a key 
To unlock the way you went ! Delay a little, 
Wait, wait, that I may overtake you. 

[Stabs herself. 



Hero and Leander 171 

Wait! 
I'm drawing near, Leander, near! 

[She dies upon his body. 

[Enter Priest from the right. 

Priest 
(with a certain affectionate buoyancy). 
The Gods be thanked! Hero's herself again. 
There is no sign to indicate Leander 
Was mad enough to affront the Gods. As for 
The future, I will take precautions, boy; 
I and your father. Hero, child, where are you? 

(Sees Hero's body.) 
Ah ! Hero ! 

(Rushes toward her. Kneels dozen, taking 

her lifeless form in his arms.) 
Dead. . . . Beside Leander's body. . . . 
(Rising, lifting up his hands.) 
Ye, Immortal Gods, have spoken, but your sen- 
tence 
(brokenly) Is all too heavy for me! 

[Enter, running from the left, a 
Guard. 



172 Hero and Leander 

Guard 

(awestruck) . 
Gods. . . . 

Priest 

(quietly) . 

Guard, your message. 

Guard. 
Naukleros has come into the harbor com- 
manding an Abydan boat. They wish to search 
the coast. 

Priest. 
They may come. . . . 

[Guard exit in haste. 

Priest 
(turning to the bodies). 

The Gods have spoken. 
The Gods have joined these two. . . . Hero, 

child, 
This joined death holds for you more of worth 



Hero and L e a n d e r i 73 

Than the great life I planned for you! 

(Overcome by grief.) 
[People of the temple come run- 
ning from the direction in 
which the GUARD left; whis- 
fering together; grouping 
themselves near the bodies. 

Priest 
(rising, looking slowly about him; motioning to 

Guard, who approaches). 
Release the prisoners. . . . The Gods have 
spoken. . . . 

[Enter by the passage through the 
rocks, a boat containing Nau- 
KLEROS and Abydan oarsmen, 
who disembark. 

Naukleros. 
Woe ! Woe ! Leander ! Oh, ye Gods of Life, 
How could, how could you break your fairest 
image ! 



1 74 Hero and Leander 

Priest 
(to NauklerosJ. 

Take her with him. These two may not be 
parted. 

One common grave shall hold their ashes; thus 

The immortal union of their spirits find 

A counterpart on earth. 

[Naukleros and the oarsmen 
carry the bodies into the boat 
while a chant is played. All 
the Sestans crowd noiselessly 
toward the shore, turning their 
backs upon the Priest, whose 
presence they seem to have 
forgotten. The Priest, with 
bowed head, looking neither 
right nor left, leaves slowly to- 
ward the right. Simultane- 
ously with his departure, the 
boat is seen starting, Nau- 
kleros and the oarsmen inton- 
ing the chant. The sea is re* 



Hero and Leander 175 

splendent with great morning 

light. The people of the tem- 
ple remain mo lion! ess upon the 
shore, looking after the boat, 

and listening to the chant, 

which continues, gradually di- 
minishing, after the boat has 
disappeared. 

Naukleros and the Rowers 
(chanting as they row). 

A darkness fell upon the stricken world, 
The earth was empty as a drained cup; 
And men knew Death, and in their anguish 

cried: 
Why have the Gods of Life forsaken us! 

The Gods read the faint hearts of men, and 

smile. 
They send abroad the legions of the Light, 
Dispelling ever the dark waste of Death, 
Ever renewing Life upon the Earth. 



176 Hero and Leander 

Ye that would be the servants of the Gods, 
Obey the voice of Love within your hearts. 
Love is the sacred guardian of Life, 
Knowing the deepest purpose of the Gods. 

[The curtain begins to descend at 
the last word, falling slowly, 
while the chant diminishes to 
a mere murmur. 



Curtain 



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THE PRINCESS OF HANOVER 

A Play. By Margaret L. Woods, author of "A Village Trag- 
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Thomas Hardy calls this play "the book I have read with the 
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dramatists." 
APOLLO AND THE SEAMAN AND OTHER POEMS 

By Herbert Trench. 12mo. Probable price, $1.50 net. 

The author is already very favorably known by his Deirdre Wedded 
and Other Poems. 

"Full of magnificent things." — William Archer. 

"Unique as 'The Ancient Mariner.'" — C. K. Chesterton in the Daily 
News. 

"Deep with thought; deep with significance. — George Meredith. 

" Here at length is an Englishman singing from the heights which Goethe 
reached." — Frank Harris in Vanity Fair. 

Arthur Colton's HARPS HUNG UP IN BABYLON 

Some forty poems, many of which first appeared in The Atlantic, 
Century, Scribner's, etc. $1.25 net. By mail, $1.30. 

" His opening lyric is as lovely a bit of melody as one will find in recent 
poetry. Mr. Colton's work . . . has a touch of its own and a charm of 
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" He has grace, scholarship— his adaptations of Horace are excellent — 
and unfailing optimism." — The Spectator (London). 

HENRY HOLT and COMPANY $SFES 



FIVE DELIGHTFUL ANTHOLOGIES 

POEMS FOR TRAVELERS 

Compiled by Kari K. .1. DuBom. Him... Cloth, $1.50; 
leather, t&fiO. 

iven Prance, Germany, Austria. Switzerland, Italy, anil 
Greece in some three bandied poems (nearly one-third <»f them 
by Americans) from about one hundred and thirty ports. All 

hut some forty of these poems were originally written in English. 



The three following books are uniform, with full gflt 
Bezible covers and pictured cover linings. 16mo. Each, cloth, 

|1.0U ; leather. $2.50. 

THE POETIC OLD WORLD 

Compiled by Miss L. II HUKPHBBT. 

Covers Europe, including Spain, Belgium and the British Isles, 
in some two hundred poems from about ninety poets. Some 
thirty, not originally written in English, are given in both the 
original and the best available translation. 

THE OPEN ROAD 

A little book for wayfarers. Compiled by E. V. Lucas. 

Some 125 poems from over GO authors, including Fitzgerald, 
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"A very charming t>ook from rover to cover."— IHal. 

THE FRIENDLY TOWN 

A little book for the urbane, compiled by E. V. Lc< 
Over 900 selections in verse and prose from 100 autle 
including: James It. Lowell. Burroughs, llerriek, Thackeray, 
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Longifellow, Keats. Swift, Meredith, Lamb, Lang, Dobson, 
Fitzgerald, Pepys, Addison, Kemble, Boswell, Holmes, Wal[ 
and Lovelace. 

' Would ha v.- delighted Charles I.nmb."— Th4 Nation. 



A BOOK OF VERSES FOR CHILDREN 
Over 200 poems representing some so authors. Compiled by 
E. V. Lucas, With decorations by F. D. Bedvobd. United 

m. $2.00. Lihrary edition, $1.00 net. 
"We know of no other IBtholOf] for children so complete and well 

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HENRY HOLT AND COMPANY ™g 



" One of the most important books on music that has ever been 
published:'- -W. J. HENDERSON in the N. Y. Times. 



8th PRINTING, with a chapter by H. E. KREHBIEL, covering 
Richard Strauss, Cornelius, Goldmark, Kienzl, Humperdinck, 
Smetana, Dvorak, Charpentier, Elgar, etc. 

LAVIGNACS 

Music and Musicians 

Translated by WILLIAM MARCHANT. 

With additional chapters by HENRY E. KREHBIEL on 
Music in America and The Present State or the Art or Music. 

With 94 Illustrations and 510 examples in Musical Notation, 518 pp., izmo, 
$1.75 net. By mail, #1.91. 

C| A brilliant, sympathetic and authoritative work cover- 
ing musical sound, the voice, musical instruments, con- 
struction aesthetics and the history of music. A veritable 
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Circular with sample pages on application. 

W. F. APTHORP in the Transcript : — 

Admirably written in its way, capitally indexed, and of genuine value 
as a handy book of reference. It contains an immense amount of 
condensed information on almost every point connected with the art 
-yhich it were well for the intelligent music-lover to know. . . . Mr, 
Marchant has done his hard task of translating exceedingly well. . . . 
Well worth buying and owning by all who are interested in musical 
knowledge. 

W. J. HENDERSON in the N. Y. Times :— 

A truly wonderful production ; . . . a long and exhaustive account 
of the manner of using the instruments of ^he orchestra, with some 
highly instructive remarks on coloring, . . . Harmony he treati 
aot only very fully, but also in a new and intensely interesting way. 
. . . Counterpoint is discussed with great thoroughness. ... It 
seems to have been his idea when he began to let no interesting topic 
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able. ... A style which can be fairly described as fascinating. 
... It will serve as a general reference book for either the musician 
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filling the places of several smaller books. . . . A complete directory 
of musical literature. . . . One of the most important books on 
music that have ever been published. 

HENRY HOLT & COMPANY, 

NEW TORK. CHICAGO. 



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